Baleine à bec commune Hyperoodon ampullatus

Like the sperm whale, this animal is an expert in deep-sea diving for long periods of time. A small population off Nova Scotia is threatened by natural gas exploration around Sable Island.

Northern Bottlenose Whale "Science and conservation" page

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On November 7, 1994, our research team’s cameras and field books were already put away for the winter when a news bulletin on T.V. reported the stranding of a rorqual whale on the tidal flats of Montmagny. Upon hearing the report, however, we had to admit that it was probably another species entirely.

At 8:30 the following morning, two members ofGREMM searched the shore to put any doubts to rest . On seeing the carcass, they were not surprised. As they had presumed, it was a northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus). Immediate call to action; a series of telephone calls and authorizations were exchanged. We had to perform a necropsy and recover the skeleton at all costs. Why was there so much excitement? The northern bottlenose whale, while not a rare species, is seldom observed in the St. Lawrence Estuary. It is spotted more often in the Atlantic Ocean, mainly offshore from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and as far north as the Arctic. What, then, was it doing in this area? We will never know. The spring tide combined with the tidal flats probably took it by surprise.

An examination of the carcass revealed it to be a female measuring seven metres long and weighing approximately three tonnes. Judging by the presence of milk in the teats, she was probably accompanied by a young calf. People who saw the animal die on the muddy tidal flats were convinced that they had also seen a second animal the day of the dissection. The next day I returned to the shore to see what I could see. There had been a dramatic turn of events: there was a second individual stranded at Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies several kilometres downstream. Once again, it was a northern bottlenose whale, this time a young male. It wasn’t that surprising that another animal of this species had thus ventured into the Estuary. Indeed, the bottle-nosed whale is a gregarious species, that is, it lives in groups, generally composed of 10 or more individuals. However, this second stranding in the same week didn’t help to explain what led these whales so far upstream, nor what caused them to beach themselves.

Yet this was not the first time we’d found this species in our waters. In fact, a review of the literature showed that a 6.7 m female was captured near Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière on September 4, 1940. More recently, in 1987, an adult male was stranded on the shores of the Magdelen Islands. A necropsy revealed the cause of death to be a plastic bag in its stomach.

Keep an eye out. Who knows what other surprises the St. Lawrence holds in store…