A Humpback Whale Was Struck in Howe Sound, a Waterway Humpbacks Frequent from October to December
Marine conservation officers are searching for an injured humpback whale after a B.C. Ferries vessel struck it in Howe Sound on Sunday. B.C. Ferries spokesperson Kit Billings says that, based on initial reports, the whale surfaced directly in front of the vessel, leaving the crew very little time to react.
Jackie Hildering of the Marine Education and Research Society says Howe Sound is well known to be frequented by humpbacks from October to December — the very stretch when the whales and the ferries that cross the sound are sharing the same water. Her emphasis is on what happens before the next collision: she says this has to be about prevention, and that these tragedies should lead to positive change.
AI-generated discussion · Different perspectives
Humpbacks are in Howe Sound on a schedule, not by accident, and Hildering's framing is the more interesting one: the question isn't how well everyone handles a strike after it happens, but what would stop the next one in a corridor both whales and ferries treat as theirs.
Prevention sounds obvious until you take the ferry's account seriously. A whale surfacing directly in front of the vessel leaves the crew almost no time to react, so any rule aimed at avoiding strikes has to work on the whale's terms as much as the captain's.