A baby whale washed up in Ucluelet's Spring Cove Wednesday afternoon.
The whale was reported by Ucluelet local Ellen Kimoto around 1:30 p.m. and local marine mammal expert Wendy Szaniszlo arrived to investigate.
Szaniszlo initially believed the whale was a humpback but later told the Westerly News it was in fact a minke.
She said the roughly four-metre-long animal was less than one year old and based on its decomposition, had likely been dead for about a week before washing ashore.
She said the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada was notified and it will be up to the department to determine if a necropsy would be conducted.
“Every dead whale does provide opportunities for research to try to investigate what the cause of death was,” Szaniszlo said.
This is the second whale to wash up on the West Coast in the past week as a juvenile grey whale carcass was found at the Wya Point Resort near Ucluelet on March 29.
Szaniszlo urges anyone who spots an injured or dead marine mammal to never touch it and immediately report their sighting to the DFO marine mammal response line at 1-800-465-4336. She added pets should be kept on leash to avoid rolling around near the animal.