Dead minke whale washes up on Argyle Shore

Adam Fenech stumbled upon a big surprise while out for a walk with his wife on P.E.I.'s south shore on Saturday morning.

Fenech was walking along Argyle Shore when he spotted what he thought was a large piece of plastic.

But it was a whale carcass, he said.

"It actually wasn't that large," he said. "It's about four metres. I thought it was a porpoise at first just based on the length."

Fenech said he was able to tell it was a whale based on the shape of its mouth. "It was not very decomposed," he said.

There was no odour and no scavengers picking at the carcass, so it must have been fresh, he said.

Reached out to colleagues

Fenech, an associate dean at UPEI, reached out to some colleagues who work at the Atlantic Veterinary College. He​​​​​​ was able to send them pictures and his colleagues identified the whale.

"When I showed them pictures of it they identified it as a minke whale, and probably a juvenile based on its size."

Adult minkes are usually twice the size of the one that that washed up, Fenech said.

He also reached out to the Marine Animal Response Society.

'We always want to find out how and why they died'

Andrew Reid, the response co-ordinator for the society, said the organization also identified the whale as a minke.

Reid also believes the whale was young.

"Any time we get dead animals on the shore we always want to find out how and why they died," he said. "If it's related to human activities on the water, or if it was a natural death — it is always an important thing to do."

Reid said the organization typically works alongside the Atlantic Veterinary College to examine the cause of death for a whale and collects information from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

He advises that if someone stumbles upon a whale to keep a safe distance, notify his organization and send photos.

"On a hot day like today a dead whale will start to decompose quite quickly. If that initial caller takes photographs, does a … documentation from a safe distance, that really can help in the process in determining what might have happened to that animal."

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