A whale-watching company reported that one of its vessels collided with a humpback whale near Vancouver on Thursday afternoon. The incident occurred when the whale “suddenly and unexpectedly surfaced” in the vessel's path, according to a statement from Prince of Whales. The company stated that its crew executed a “decisive” maneuver to avoid the whale, managing to stop almost immediately. However, there was “minimal contact with the whale” during this maneuver. The statement noted, “We were not actively viewing the whale, so this was a surprise encounter.” Several passengers aboard the vessel fell as it attempted to stop, resulting in injuries to a few individuals. British Columbia Emergency Health Services reported that paramedics treated four patients on Granville Island, and they were subsequently transported to a hospital in stable condition. Following the collision, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) received a report about the incident in Howe Sound. The DFO confirmed that the whale was seen surfacing three times after the collision, but its identity has not yet been confirmed. The company involved is fully cooperating with the investigation. This incident follows a recent collision involving a high-speed ferry that struck a humpback whale in English Bay earlier this month. A calf with a deep gash near its dorsal fin was later identified as the whale involved in that incident. Humpback whales are particularly vulnerable to ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, according to the DFO. The agency noted that the likelihood and severity of a ship strike depend on factors such as whale density, ship traffic, and the size and speed of vessels. In recent years, the population of humpbacks in the southern Salish Sea has peaked in the fall, with an estimated 416 individual whales using Canadian waters between Vancouver and the western end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The DFO highlighted that October is a time of high whale density in the southern Strait of Georgia, which is also a busy area for ferry routes and whale-watching activities. The DFO has alerted its enforcement officers and the Pacific Whale Watch Association to monitor for any injured animals, especially as poor weather and high winds are expected over the weekend.