'Not what I wanted to find': Dead whale that washed up in B.C. will aid researchers

A gruesome and awe-inspiring discovery was made in the frigid waters off northern Vancouver Island this weekend. A bloated dead humpback whale was discovered on the coast of Malcolm Island, B.C., just north of Port McNeill.

A gruesome and awe-inspiring discovery was made in the frigid waters off northern Vancouver Island this weekend.

A bloated dead humpback whale was discovered on the coast of Malcolm Island, B.C., just north of Port McNeill.

The whale was found on Sunday during what was a usual drive for Andrew Pinch, a resident of Sointula, a village on Malcolm Island.

"I thought it was a rock," Pinch told CTV News. But the shape became clearer as he got closer.

"Oh my god, it is a dead whale," he can be heard saying on his vehicle dashcam.

The discovery, while sad, is also incredibly rare and valuable to researchers.

"So often dead whales sink to the bottom of the ocean whereby we lose the realities of how they died," said Jackie Hilderling with the Marine Education and Research Society.

But something brought this whale here. The whale has been identified as "Spike," a humpback that was first spotted in B.C. waters in 2018.