Overview
- Passengers on the Queen of Surrey said they felt a collision on Sunday and filmed a humpback that surfaced near the ferry and appeared badly injured with visible blood in the water.
- BC Ferries confirmed the Queen of Surrey struck a whale between Grace Point and Keats Island and reported the incident to authorities while saying the vessel was travelling at 16 knots.
- The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has dispatched crews to Howe Sound to locate the animal, identify the individual and assess its condition as part of an active investigation.
- Marine researchers and the Marine Education and Research Society warn the strike may have been fatal given the ferry's speed and visible trauma, and note struck whales can sink so deaths may go unconfirmed.
- Conservation groups are renewing calls for prevention measures such as lower speed limits on high-traffic routes and wider use of alert tools like the Whale Report Alert System, building on earlier voluntary slowdowns on some routes.