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Tribune News Service

In “considerable pain”, a determined humpback whale tracked by researchers for more than a decade, recently finished swimming almost 5,000km from Canada to Hawaii – all with a broken spine.
Moon, a lone humpback whale, travelled from British Columbia to Maui with a severe spinal injury from a vessel strike, according to a post the non-profit research group BC Whales shared on Facebook.
The whale was spotted in waters near the Hawaiian island December 1.
She was immediately identified because of her contorted body which researchers said is due to it being struck by a vessel.
Every September for the past decade, researchers at Fin Island research station in Gitga’at First Nations territory spotted Moon in the coastal waters to feed on krill.
In 2020, researchers said they were elated when she appeared with a calf, passing on the tradition of migrating between feeding and breeding grounds to her offspring.
But in September, researchers noticed something different.
“The harrowing images of her twisted body stirred us all,” BC Whales posted Thursday on Facebook. “She was likely in considerable pain yet she migrated thousands of miles without being able to propel herself with her tail.”
The whale’s journey left her emaciated and covered in whale lice as a testament to her severely depreciated condition, researchers said.

“This is the stark reality of a vessel strike, and it speaks to the extended suffering that whales can endure afterwards,” they wrote. “It also speaks to their instinct and culture: the lengths whales will go to follow patterns of behaviour.”
Janie Wray, the CEO and lead researcher for BC Whales, told The Guardian that Moon’s injury meant the whale had to swim differently to finish her journey.
“Without the use of her tail, she was literally doing the breaststroke to make that migration. It’s absolutely amazing,” she told the outlet. “But it also just breaks your heart.”
Attempts to euthanise Moon, Wray said, would require “a cocktail of toxic substances” and risk poisoning the marine life that would feed off her remains.
“If she was on land, we could intervene,” Wray told the outlet. “But because she’s in the ocean, and because of her size, there is nothing that we can do. And that just breaks your heart even further into pieces.”
In a first, video captures orcas hunting great white sharks
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, marine animals can be difficult for a vessel operator to see because they are not always visible from the surface. Even if the operator sees the animal clearly, there may be no time for either of them to avoid a collision.
Endangered North Atlantic right whales are especially vulnerable to vessel strikes because their habitat and migration routes are close to major ports and often overlap with shipping lanes, the administration said.
Researchers said that Moon’s current condition will not allow her to survive the return to Canada.
“Tenacity & Tragedy. Moon … will not make it back,” they said. “We will never truly understand the strength it took for Moon to take on what is regrettably her last journey, but it is on us to respect such tenacity within another species and recognise that vessel strikes lead to a devastating end.”


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Animals

Humpback whale with broken spine travels almost 5,000km doing breaststroke

Moon, a lone humpback whale, traveled from British Columbia to Maui with a severe spinal injury from a vessel strike. Photo: BC Whales 

Moon’s injury meant the whale had to swim differently to finish her journey. Photo: Facebook / BC Whales

In a first, detailed video captures orcas hunting great white sharks in South Africa

Orcas were captured on camera killing a great white shark in South Africa. Photo:  Ecological Society of America

Orcas, the ocean’s apex predator, have been known to prey on other shark species, but evidence of attacks on great whites was previously limited. Photo: TNS

5 dead after New Zealand boat hits whale and capsizes

A helicopter and a rescue boat search for survivors off the coast of Kaikoura, New Zealand, on Saturday. Photo: AP

A helicopter flies over an overturned boat with a survivor sitting on the hull off the coast of Kaikoura. Photo: AP

‘Pure chaos’: how whale shark tourism in Maldives is out of control and puts the magnificent creatures’ lives at risk

Tourists swim to view a whale shark in the Maldives. Reports of up to 50 boats and hundreds of people in the water chasing one whale shark point at a tourism industry out of control. Photo: Matt Reichel

Tourists scramble to view a whale shark in the Maldives. Photo: Matt Reichel

Chloe Win, in-field coordinator for the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme. Photo: MWSRP

Whale sharks feed on plankton and seaweed and help balance the marine ecosystem. Photo: Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Tourists snorkel next to a whale shark in the Gulf of California, in a protected area, as part of a whale shark watching tour at Bahía de La Paz in La Paz, Mexico. Mexico has had some success in controlling whale shark tourism through tough enforcement measures. Photo: Getty Images

Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme scientist Clara Canovas Perez. Photo: MWSRP

Dení Ramírez Macías, director of research organisation at Whale Shark Mexico. Photo: Whale Shark Mexico

Stranded beluga whale rescued from France’s Seine river dies

Emergency workers pull up a net as they rescue a beluga whale stranded in the River Seine at Notre Dame de la-Garonne, northern France, on August 9. Photo: AFP

The beluga whale was stranded in the Seine river for more than a week. Photo: AP

Veterinary surgeons look after the beluga whale inside a truck. Photo: AFP

News

World

United States & Canada


Moon the humpback whale was likely injured because a vessel struck her back, BC Whales said
Researchers said the marine giant will almost certainly not survive to make a return journey to Canada



In ‘considerable pain’, a determined humpback whale tracked by researchers for more than a decade, recently finished swimming almost 5,000km from Canada to Hawaii – all with a broken spine.


Canada

Conservation

Environment