A federal department has confirmed a dead humpback whale was spotted floating in Howe Sound, B.C., about a week after a BC Ferries vessel collided with a whale in the same region.

The Fisheries Department Canada says in a statement that two whales were seen near the ferry on Oct. 18 as it sailed between Grace Point and Keats Island in Howe Sound, and one of the whales was struck after it surfaced in front of the vessel.

The federal agency says it then received a report and photographs of a dead whale near Grace Point on Monday, but have not yet confirmed if it is the same whale.

Tasli Shaw, co-founder of Humpback Whales of the Salish Sea, says she also received photos of the dead whale from a local resident.

She says researchers traditionally use tail flukes or dorsal fins to identify a whale, but in the case, “quite tragically, the animal’s tail fluke was missing.”

She says its dorsal fin was also not visible in the photo, but she was able to identify the humpback as Notcho, also known as BCX1700, due to its right pectoral flipper.

Notcho’s age is unknown, but Shaw says the whale had been spending summers in the Salish Sea since 2017 to hunt for food.

Fisheries Department Canada says it is now working to locate the dead whale.

It says its staff are also working to identify the animal and “arrangements are being made to conduct a necropsy, if feasible, to help determine the cause of death and gather additional information.”