The recent deaths of three young fin whales near Bella Bella are causing concern after a summer that saw an unusual spike in large whale deaths.

A helicopter pilot on his way to a remote logging camp spotted the three dead whales at Bird Point on Sunday, and called the B.C. Marine Mammal Response Network to report them, according to Paul Cottrell, Pacific marine mammal coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

“Fin whales are listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act, so every animal is extremely important to the population. Seeing three together, obviously it’s disturbing and we want to find out what happened,” Cottrell said.

He added that it’s very unusual for baleen whales like fins to die in groups.

Scientists conducted necropsies on the animals on Tuesday in an attempt to figure out what caused their deaths and whether they died on the beach or in nearby waters. All three are juvenile male whales.

Samples have been taken from the whales’ stomachs and colons to determine if a biotoxin in their food may have killed them. It’s also possible that they were corralled and pushed toward the beach by transient killer whales hunting them for food.

“We’re trying to go through this methodically and rule things out and hopefully get closer to determining what may have caused this,” Cottrell said.

The results of lab tests may take a while, though, because of a backlog caused by a pulse of large whale deaths this summer along the West Coast of North America.

“We’re really working everybody pretty hard, and these three fin whales doesn’t lessen the load at all,” Cottrell said.

Four humpback whales were found dead in a single week in B.C. waters in August, and as of this week, five fin whale carcasses have been discovered. One sperm whale and one grey whale have also died this year.

Meanwhile, more than 30 large whales have died off the coast of Alaska.

Scientists have yet to determine why so many whales have died, and it has proven difficult to get samples from many of the animals found in the U.S.

Cottrell said that researchers are still waiting for the results of tests that will determine if a toxin produced by algae was involved. Scientists are also testing for radionucleotides to see if radioactivity was a factor.

All samples from B.C. and Alaska are being tested in the same lab to maintain consistency, and results are expected within about a month.

In the meantime, Cottrell is urging members of the public to call the B.C. Marine Mammal Response Network at 1-800-465-4336 as soon as they see a dead or injured whale, so that scientists can respond as quickly as possible.

Blindsay@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/bethanylindsay

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