On May 30, a young female killer whale washed up on the shore of Dundas Island.
Lara Sloan of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) said the initial necropsy revealed no obvious cause of death and no physical trauma.
READ MORE: Northern resident killer whale numbers reach record high
Dr. Steven Raverty, the marine mammal expert veterinarian pathologist for the province, performed the necropsy. He sent samples away for DNA analysis to determine whether the killer whale was a northern or southern resident. More testing for the young whale’s cause of death will be done with collected samples, and marine researchers hope to find results in the next few weeks.
Sloan said DFO normally gets two or three reports of dead killer whales found in the Pacific region each year.
READ MORE: Orca found at Copper Day was a northern resident: DFO
keili.bartlett@thenorthernview.com
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