A third sperm whale stranded off the north coast of Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) has died, a day after two others were confirmed dead. The decision was made to allow the whale to die peacefully, according to the director of the Marine Animal Rescue Society, in the interest of human safety and the animal’s well-being.

“It’s still heartbreaking,” he added.

The three young male whales were spotted Saturday night near Hardys Channel, near East Bideford. Each weighed between 15 and 20 tonnes.

Experts say options for helping animals of this size are limited and conventional methods of rehoming or relocating them would not be feasible.

Wimmer explained that sperm whales usually live in very deep waters, at least 800 meters deep, and have extraordinary diving abilities to hunt squid and other deep-sea creatures. Their presence in the shallow waters of the area was an unusual and worrying sign.

He said the next step would be to consider necropsies of at least one of the whales to determine whether there was a specific physical cause for this or if the whales were healthy but lost their way and entered these waters by mistake.

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