British ColumbiaB.C. Ferries says it believes one of its vessels “made contact” with a humpback whale Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, a humpback whale was found dead in the vicinity.The DFO will co-ordinate a necropsy to determine the cause of deathCBC News · Posted: Sep 18, 2025 8:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoThe vessel ‘Northern Expedition’ is believed to have hit a whale Wednesday night, according to B.C. Ferries. (B.C. Ferries)A humpback whale was reportedly hit by a B.C. Ferries vessel Wednesday night off B.C.’s North Coast, about 130 kilometres southeast of Prince Rupert. On Thursday morning, a humpback was found dead near the same area, according to the ferry service.”We are saddened to report that last night one of our vessels believes it made contact with a humpback whale in Wright Sound,” said B.C. Ferries spokesperson Ceilidh Marlow in an emailed statement Thursday.Marlow said the incident was immediately reported to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), local First Nations and marine researchers.Researchers found a dead humpback around 10:30 a.m. PT Thursday near where the vessel is believed to have hit the whale, Marlow said.She added DFO will co-ordinate a necropsy to determine the cause of death in the coming days.The vessel involved was the Northern Expedition, which provides ferry service between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert.”These situations are felt deeply by our crews and our company,” Marlow said. “We take our responsibility to mitigate the impacts of our operations on the environment and marine life very seriously.”The spokesperson said B.C. Ferries has a number of measures in place to reduce the risk of whale strikes, including training and operating protocols.Effort to find, recover the whaleJanie Wray, CEO and founder of the non-profit B.C. Whales, said her team was alerted by DFO that a whale had been struck Wednesday night.A team member went out at first light on Thursday to look for the whale — and found it, near where they believe it was struck, floating on the water’s surface.Non-profit workers have tied the whale to shore until DFO can further investigate.Wray noted the area where the whale was found is a fjord system in a very remote area with many steep cliffs — and a “very high abundance of humpback whales.”She said it seems whale strikes are happening more often, possibly due to an increase in the number of humpback whales, however there haven’t been new measures to protect the animals.”There just needs to be a slow-down zone in certain areas along this coast,” said Wray.She noted many people in the area have a deep connection with the whales.”It’s a really emotional day for us,” Wray said. “We don’t know who the whale is, but there are whales in this particular area that we are very close to — we consider them family.”With files from Andrew Kurjata, Liam Britten, Hana Mae Nassar and Lauren Vanderdeen
Humpback whale found dead after possible collision with B.C. Ferries vessel
