Photo: . Chris Ashurst was exploring the remote island of Haida Gwaii on a foggy Sunday morning when he came across a large whale carcass washed ashore. “It was also a big one, about 13 meters long,” he recalls. His partner Helen and their dog camped a few kilometers south of Cape Fife. He had decided to go for a walk when he made the discovery. “It got a little rotten, a little smelly, but it wasn’t too far. It still had the humpback barrels on its underside,” says Ashurst. The local, who has lived on the island for more than 20 years, took out his camera to try to document the whale’s tail and pectoral fins to send to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). “Hopefully with the photos we’ve taken, we can help identify this photo,” says Ashurst. “It gives us a little bit of a story about his life and if he had a name and research related to that. And more importantly, we can, you know, maybe try to find clues about how he died.” During an interview with Glacier Media on Tuesday, Ashurst says another carcass washed up just seven kilometers south of the village of Masset. A total of three whales were confirmed dead by Fisheries and Oceans Canada within a month. Two of them showed signs of blunt force trauma, leaving experts and researchers wondering what is causing the spate of deaths. “It’s unfortunate that we’ve had so many in one month and we hope this trend doesn’t continue,” says Paul Cottrell, marine mammal coordinator for DFO. On October 12 and October 15, a humpbacked corpse was spotted floating in the ocean near Prince Rupert, but it is unclear where or if it washed up. “We don’t know this last month if it’s three or four because we haven’t been able to identify that extra animal, and we have to be careful about double counting animals because they’re floating,” Cottrell says. On October 23, a female humpback whale was found dead off Malcolm Island. his name was Spike and he had blunt trauma. On November 5, a young man was found dead with signs of blunt force trauma, but experts were unable to positively identify him. Finally, on November 13, the third carcass washed up. It has not been identified due to extensive decay. “When animals die, they don’t always show up and show up on the beach where we can do a necropsy,” Cottrell says. “Often, if animals die in less than 150 meters of water, they will bloat and float. If they die in very deep water, they tend not to surface.” On average, there are about four to 10 blowtorch deaths a year, he says. “That’s a pulse of deaths, so whenever you get that, it’s a concern,” Cottrell says. “Overall, for this year, we’re in a normal range for humpback deaths, a little on the high side, but not something that’s extremely alarming. That being said… the last month having three or four is more than normal.” Jackie Hildering, a humpback whale researcher at the Society for Marine Education and Research, hopes the public will learn more about the threats to these huge mammals. “It’s very heavy knowing these whales are dead,” he says, calling them “ambassadors.” “These are the ambassadors for those we can’t see yet, which is so important. The importance of knowing who whales are as individuals.’ Hildering believes that large boats may not even know if they hit a whale. “Big boat traffic is a potential silent killer … it’s like hit and run, where you might not even know you’ve hit a whale,” he says. The researcher is asking the public to report a whale in distress or if they suspect it has been hit by a boat. “These are big whales, hungry whales that don’t have biosonars. They can be just below the surface and then come up suddenly,” he says. “These boats need to realize that these whales are not going to escape.” Autopsies are being performed on the three whales, which could take months before the results are finalized. “Our marine postmortem team is a dedicated team and we are working hard to get to all these animals and try to understand why and how they died and the cause of death – this is not always possible if the animal is decomposing.” says Cottrell. DFO’s 24-hour hotline is 1-800-465-4336. “We’re only successful when people visit and notice these situations where we have dead, big whales,” he says. “We want to know right away because the sooner we can get there, the better data we can get and hopefully determine the cause of death,” he said. Dead humpback named ‘Spike’ washed ashore on October 23, 2022. Jared Towers Elana Shepert / Glacier Media – November 15, 2022 / 17:19 | History: 396468 Photo: pixabay A coalition of groups is calling on the BC government to reinstate the face mask mandate in indoor public spaces. Protect Our Province BC, Safe Schools Coalition BC, BC School Covid Tracker and Masks 4 East Van have written an open letter to incoming BC Premier David Eby, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside to implement a requirement mask in all indoor public places, including schools. The letter says a mask policy would reduce some of the impact on hospitals across the province, as fewer people would get sick. To increase awareness, the government should have a public education campaign explaining why the mask is an “effective tool against respiratory infections” while emphasizing the importance of mask application and “better filtration quality respirators ». BC officials lifted the mandatory mask policy on July 1, but public health officials encouraged people to continue wearing them in public while indoors, particularly on public transit. However, the majority of people do not wear them, despite the recommendation. As children’s hospitals in Ontario run out of pediatric ICU beds, the team expects BC to run out of them as cases increase during the respiratory season. And since HEPA filtration units have not been provided in most BC classrooms, “masks are currently the only sure way to limit the amount of virus in the air that school children and teachers breathe,” the letter argues . Photo via @Protect_BC/Twitter Face Mask Mandate and BC COVID-19 Status Public health officials have warned that BC could see a spike in coronavirus cases during the respiratory season. In a press conference on September 28, the provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said COVID-19 would likely spike from November to January, with flu peaking early this year around the same time, based on the experiences of Australia and New Zealand. Despite the expected spike in illnesses, the province has no plans to reinstate the mask mandate — at least not for now. A spokesperson for the Department of Health told Vancouver Is Awesome in a statement that it is not considering reintroducing mask mandates at this time. However, it will closely monitor the current epidemiological situation in the province and adjust its response accordingly. While the province has a higher-than-normal volume of patients in its hospitals, including children, the situation in Ontario is more serious and BC is “not yet experiencing an increase in COVID-19/influenza/RSV hospitalizations, which requires the activation of provincial surge plans “, the ministry said. While face coverings help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the province has achieved a very high level of population immunity through infections and vaccination. “At this stage of the pandemic, even among the frailest elderly populations in long-term care facilities, most vaccinated residents with COVID-19 experience mild symptoms,” according to the ministry. However, people are still encouraged to wear masks in crowded indoor public spaces or on public transport. Additionally, anyone with flu-like symptoms should stay home until they feel better. The ministry added that it “will continue to monitor the pandemic around the world and in B.C. and should conditions change” and adjust its “response and applicable measures as necessary to protect public health.” Jeremy Hainsworth / Vancouver is Awesome – November 15, 2022 / 5:15 pm History: 396467 Photo: Jeremy Hainsworth. A psychiatric report on Leslie Dale Chudek is expected on January 5, 2023. The man charged in a June stabbing attack at a Vancouver gas station claims he was threatened by the Hells Angels, a BC Supreme Court judge has heard. on November 15 Leslie Dale Chudek faces charges of aggravated assault, assault, threatening and dangerous operation of a vehicle in connection with the incident at 3502 East Hastings St. He appeared via video before Judge Michael Tammen to set dates for future appearances. However, he had no legal representation. Chudek told the judge he wants defense lawyer Christopher Funt to get RCMP records from Powell River. He suggested that these records could confirm his “concern that the Hell’s Angels are coming after me.” Chudek went on to claim that he had entered into a drug deal between the Hells Angels and Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers. He accused the department of corruption. He then suggested that he was being run from the province to Saskatchewan. “I could bring that up to support my point,” Chutek said. “You need to be in touch with your lawyer,” Tammen told Chudek. Crown prosecutor Daniel Milligan told the judge a psychiatric examination was ordered on October 28. Milligan said, depending on that report, a not criminally responsible defense of mental disorder could be made at trial. The report is expected on January 5. In June, Vancouver provincial court heard from doctors that Chuneck is mentally competent to stand trial. The trial is scheduled…
