Whale never seen in B.C. waters washes up dead on Vancouver Island beach [Video]

A whale, never before seen in B.C. waters, washed up dead on northern Vancouver Island.

A man walking his dog on Wednesday morning discovered the dead whale in Port McNeill at the end of the bay in the estuary.

“This is the only Bryde’s whale that has ever been seen in British Columbia waters, with all the collective knowledge through First Nations, DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans),” said Jackie Hildering, whale researcher and director of education and communications with the Marine Education and Research Society.

She said they first thought it was a minke whale but then a member of the team noticed this whale did not have the diagnostic minke mittens, or white bands on its flippers that distinguishes a minke whale from others.

Hildering said Bryde’s whales, a member of the baleen whale family, which includes blue whales and humpback whales, have rostral ridges and are known for having three parallel ridges on …