2 dead whales wash up on opposite coasts of Newfoundland

The decomposing carcasses of two different whales are creating a stir and a stink on opposite shorelines of Newfoundland, on the Avalon and Northern peninsulas.

Fern Burke was out for a hike on the East Coast Trail Wednesday evening between Tors Cove and Mobile when she came across one of the dead whales, at Kearney's Beach.

"It's pretty amazing, and then it's kind of sad, because you're wondering, what happened? Was it struck by a ship? Did something kill it?" Burke told CBC News, adding she only got as close to it as odour would allow.

"Oh yeah, there's a stench! Not so much say if the wind is off the land, but yesterday evening it wasn't, it was coming into the beach so it's quite strong — nasty."

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans confirmed the Tors Cove carcass is of a long-dead minke whale.

Research scientist Jack Lawson said the whale appeared healthy at its time of death, with no signs of obvious trauma 

With the whale's body below the high tide mark, it continues to wash in and out with the tide as nature takes its course to decompose the body, a process Burke can attest to.

"It's probably been in the sun for a few days, so [it's] really badly decomposing. All the outer flesh is starting to fall away, so the smell is really strong."

Northern Peninsula humpback

Meanwhile, Shandi Mitchelmore, 11, and her brother David of Cook's Harbour were out along the shoreline near their community Wednesday evening when they spotted something unusual: a whale's bloated body, puffed up and rocking in the surf.

"It was very blown up by the gases that were trapped inside of him, and it was really big," said Shandi Mitchelmore, estimating it was about nine metres long. 

Lawson identified the whale as a smaller adult male humpback, but couldn't give an estimate of age or cause of death based on photos.

"It was really cool, and it looked really rubbery," said Mitchelmore, of seeing her first dead whale up close.

The two whales may be different species, on opposite sides of the island, but they share one thing in common.

"It smelled really rotten," said Mitchelmore.