Researchers believe the whale struck by a Hullo ferry last Friday near Vancouver was a calf named Skipper that was born this year.

The Port McNeill-based Marine Education and Research Society said photos of the calf taken by whale-watching operators on Oct. 16 and then again after the ship strike on Oct. 20 revealed a large gash on the small whale’s back.

“Sadly, the calf had a very deep gash near its dorsal fin consistent with a ship strike,” said the society.

The Pacific Whale Watch Association shared the photo on social media, as well as a photo that it says shows the same calf uninjured a few days before the reported ferry strike.

Hullo Ferries, which operates high-speed catamarans between Vancouver and Nanaimo, said over the weekend that one of its vessels likely struck a humpback

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