16 pilot whales dead in mass stranding on Sable Island

16 pilot whales dead in mass stranding on Sable Island

Marine Animal Response Society said beached whales were discovered June 10

Sixteen pilot whales are dead following a mass stranding on the north shore of Sable Island on June 10.

Zoe Lucas with the Sable Island Institute alerted Parks Canada, which went to the location and found some of the whales already dead.

Parks Canada alerted the Marine Animal Response Society around mid-morning that day, said Tonya Wimmer, founder and co-executive director of the society.

"Any time we get a call and it involves live animals, but especially mass strandings, it's very worrisome," she said.

Wimmer said the location of the stranding on a remote area of Sable Island, some 290 kilometres southeast of Halifax, complicated rescue attempts.

She said mass strandings are difficult to manage even when they happen in more accessible areas of the Maritimes.

"Sable has extra hazards about being in the water related to currents, related to predators like grey seals and sharks," she said.

In a social media post, the society said because of the remote location and resource constraints they were unable to assist the animals, and the remaining whales died shortly afterward.

The Parks Canada personnel on the island documented information about each whale and collected samples.

Because pilot whales are highly social animals that live in close family groups, Wimmer said they sometimes get stranded together.

"Sometimes it's mistaken navigation, sometimes it's following food, sometimes it could be that an older animal is sick and they all just go together," she said.

"They'll follow the leader in that way."

She noted that even when necropsies are performed on stranded whales, there is often no clear reason found for the stranding.

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With files from Kyle Moore and The Canadian Press