SANDFORD, N.S. — CARLA ALLEN
Tri-County Vanguard
A badly decomposed whale was discovered on the Sandford, Yarmouth County, shoreline Nov. 16.
The Marine Animal Response Society (MARS) was contacted and, from a photo of the carcass, they identified the mammal.
“Based on the length of the pectoral fins, we can confirm it was a humpback whale,” said response co-ordinator Andrew Reid.
“Given the state of decomposition, there’s not much to say other than that it looks like sharks had been feeding on it for a while,” he added.
A few days afterwards, a MARS volunteer examined the carcass to obtain additional documentation of the external surface.
MARS is a charitable organization dedicated to marine animal conservation in the Maritimes through response, research and education.
The society, formerly known as the Nova Scotia Stranding Network, was established by a group of volunteers in 1990 to monitor and respond to strandings and incidental catches of marine mammals.
Members from the Oceanographic Environmental Research Society (OERS) also examined the whale.
OERS is committed to the protection and conservation of marine life. As part of this goal, OERS supports and promotes a variety of research endeavours into causes of death, as well as how to improve care to stressed and injured animals.
Contact info
For stranded, injured or dead marine animals in the Canadian Maritime provinces,
call the Marine Animal Response Society:1-866-567-6277 or
Oceanographic Environmental Research Society
