Death of humpback whale in Nova Scotia river raises climate change questions
CBC
The death of a humpback whale found in the Stewiacke River on Thursday and other recent whale sightings are raising questions about climate change.
"I think that sits in the back of everybody's minds when we're starting to see species in weird places or even other species that are not normally here," said Tonya Wimmer, the executive director of the Nova Scotia-based Marine Animal Response Society.
The humpback whale was spotted in the Shubenacadie River earlier this week.
On Monday, an endangered blue whale was seen in St. Marys Bay off Long Island, N.S. It appeared to be fine.
In June, a beached minke whale found in the Shubenacadie River was rescued by river rafters.
Wimmer said the society is monitoring changes in marine animals. She noted seeing bottlenose dolphins appearing more often in the area over the last few years, which she said was unusual.
"The ocean seems to be changing," she said. "It's warming, the food is changing, the food quality is changing, the animals themselves, their health, and so it does raise some alarms."
Wimmer said the society became aware of the humpback whale in the Shubenacadie River on Canada Day. It was still alive at that point.
She said the group was "a bit astonished" that it was a humpback whale on the sandbars.
The whale was freed for a short period and appeared to have more energy, but Wimmer said it was found alive again the following day. It was stuck again and much weaker.
"They're such big animals," Wimmer said. "The ocean is the reason they can get to be so big because they don't have to deal with gravity like we do on land."
Wimmer said it's not clear why the whale was in the Shubenacadie River to begin with, but it may have been following fish.
The RCMP asked people not to stop along the highway to look at the whale.
Gaylene Chase was among several people who gathered along a trail not far from the river. She heard about the whale and said she was curious.