Wandering humpback whale likely killed in ship collision, says necropsy team

Preliminary results of a necropsy show a boat strike likely killed the humpback whalewhose body was found drifting downthe St. Lawrence River near Varennes, Que., early Tuesday, say veterinarians who are examiningthe carcass where it was hoisted from the water, inSainte-Anne-de-Sorel.

Thewhale, vigorous when shewas first spotted near the Jacques Cartier Bridge on May 30, drew hundreds of people to the Old Port to catch a glimpse of the rare sight. The whale was last spotted alive Sunday near Pointe-aux-Trembles, at the northeastern endof the island of Montreal and was then seen, lifeless, near le-Beauregard, six nautical miles away.

Universit de Montral Prof. Stphane Lair, a veterinary pathologist leading the team conducting the necropsy, saidthe whale had suffered trauma under its skinand in its muscles. The accumulation of blood in the whale also suggests that a collision fatally wounded the animal, said Lair.

Lair confirmed the young humpback was a female, between two and three years of age.

He said his team will analyzesamples from the necropsy in thelabbefore confirming the cause of death in a month or two.

If indeed a boat did strike and kill the whale, Laird said, the vesselwould have had to have been very large.

WATCH: Veterinarian on what he found in whale necropsy:

Preliminary findings show whale was hit by boat

4 years ago

Duration 0:30

The team led by Universit de Montral veterinary Prof. Stphane Lair says early findings from the necropsy suggest the humpback whale was struck by a boat. Lair says a final diagnosis could take as long as two months.

"If they hit the whale during the night, there's a good chance they might not have noticed it," Lair said.

The whale had some skin damage from the time it had spent in fresh water, Lair said, but it otherwise looked to be in good health.

Humpback whales can survivea journey through fresh water for at least three weeks and return safely to the ocean, said Robert Michaud, the co-ordinatorof the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network.

"We thought this animal could make it," saidMichaud, who is also the founder andscientific director of the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals, based in Tadoussac, Que.

Lair said hecan't yet confirm ifthe whale had been eatingbut said it is possible the whale, at least in the early part of her journey from salt water upstream to Montreal,could have been chasing schools of fish.

Michaud and his network had hoped they could help the whale return safely to hernatural habitat, keeping close tabs on heruntil they lost track of the whaleSunday morning, he said.