sperm whale

A young male sperm whale is dead after it was stranded alive on the eastern coast of Cape Breton, in an incident the Marine Animal Response Society (MARS) calls, “exceptionally unusual.”

MARS says the whale was found on Thursday of last week in Rockdale. Despite multiple attempts to return the whale to deeper water, he kept getting stranded.

The response society says finding a young whale this far north is an extremely rare occurrence, considering females and younger whales typically stay in warmer, lower-latitude waters.

The whale was 14 feet and 5 inches long, about 2,500 lbs and may have been less than a year old and still dependent on its mother.

“Sperm whale calves typically remain with their mothers for several years, making the presence of such a young animal in northern waters particularly remarkable,” says the post.

After the whale died, he was taken to the MARS Lab in Seaforth on Saturday for a full necropsy, but no obvious cause of death was found.

MARS thanks Fisheries and Oceans Canada including conservation and protection officers or trying to get the whale to float.

“We are grateful to everyone who contributed their time, expertise, and resources to this challenging response.”