Two of three beached sperm whales in P.E.I. dead; condition of third deteriorating

The head of a conservation group says her team feels helpless and heartbroken after the death of two beached sperm whales off the northern coast of Prince Edward Island.

A third whale is still clinging to life, but its condition is deteriorating, said Tonya Wimmer, executive director of the Marine Animal Response Society. She said it’s unlikely whales like these ones can survive after landing on shore.

“With whales — a thing of any size, when they hit a beach, they don’t have arms …. They’re beautifully designed to be in the ocean, and that’s where they’ve evolved, and they are fantastically perfect for that environment. But even though they’re a mammal, put them on land — that’s really not their element.”

She said her team was notified about the whales on Saturday. By the next morning one of the three had already died, followed by another.

Veterinarians and Wimmer’s colleagues are monitoring the third whale, but there is little they can do because of the size of the animal and its remote location.

“And this (third) animal is for whatever reason just holding on a bit longer,” Wimmer said.

The team measured the size of the whales with the smallest one being 10 metres and the other two about 11 metres in length, she said.

It is likely that the stranded whales were a “bachelor” group, without a pod and juvenile subadults, she said.

Her team has been observing the whales, she said, but they feel helpless because they know it would be difficult to save them. And the situation is not one that she or her veterinary colleagues take lightly, she said, adding a number of options have been discussed to help the animals.

“Being able to refloat them, or if the animal could be euthanized like we would do with any animal that’s suffering. It’s just very complex for these large animals. Their bodies are way bigger than ours, way bigger than a pet we may have. There’s a lot of factors at play.”

Fisheries and Oceans Canada said on Monday the department has been using drones to take pictures of the whales because their location is difficult to access by foot or boat.

In Canada, sperm whales are found in deep waters of the continental shelf or in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at depths of 500 to 1,000 metres, Wimmer said. So how and why the animals ended up off the coast of northern Prince Edward Island is a mystery, and something to be studied, Wimmer said.

For now, she and the team are letting nature take its course but it is hard to tell how long the third whale will hold on, she said.

“There’s a lot of conditions that come into play in terms of how long these animals can last on beaches,” Wimmer said. “It can be anywhere from a few hours. It can be anywhere to a day or so. We just want to give the animal its peace, and even though it’s a heartbreaking situation, hopefully it’s able to pass peacefully.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2025.