Lame, exhausted and confused, the young male polar bear is far from his natural habitat to the north.

A dead male grey whale that was found floating between Sidney Island and James Island on Thursday has been towed to Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney for a necropsy.

The species has been spotted in the Inside Passage before. But sightings are infrequent. A whale found recently near Juneau is thought to have died from a vessel strike.

A sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) found beached on the east side of Lynn Canal had trauma consistent with being hit by a boat propeller.

"Looked normal at first then we started to butcher it found some unusual stuff on the insides."

The Marine Mammal Center and California Academy of Sciences are reporting cause of death for one.

Thinning sea ice has driven more than 50 polar bears ashore on an Arctic archipelago in northern Russia, causing chaos for the local population.

Public health officials confirmed that four Nome residents had been hospitalized in early January with preliminary results pointing to poising from foodborne type E botulism from an aged beluga flipper.

The third such bite in two years prompted a police warning in the Aleutian Islands town.

Jim Hollandsworth of Arctic Village said he encountered the bear in early January. He said the bear had tried to get into his cabin about 32 kilometers from the village.

Sea lions have been pushed to come closer town because of marine pollution and over fishing, and now they are eating the scraps from the fish processing plant.

Officials are warning residents in Roddickton, Newfoundland to keep their distance from seals that have wandered into town. According to resident Brendon Fitzpatrick, some have crawled 6 to 8 km away from the ocean.

Scientists have narrowed down the top likely causes of more than 1,400 seal deaths across New England.

With sea ice reduced, polar bears in the Arctic are spending more time on land, leading to increased attacks on people. Concerned Inuit communities want to increase hunting quotas, but researchers are testing new technologies they hope will reduce these often deadly confrontations.

A dead whale that washed ashore in eastern Indonesia had a large lump of plastic waste in its stomach, including drinking cups and flip-flops, a park official said Tuesday, causing concern among environmentalists and government officials in one of the world's largest plastic polluting countries.

The first formal count of polar bears in waters between the United States and Russia indicates they are doing better than some of their cousins elsewhere. However, in the longer term, it doesn't mean the Chukchi Sea bear population will not be affected. Fewer cubs were surviving into their second year and adult males weighed less and had smaller skulls, the U.S. Geological Survey found.

A raucous crowd has moved into Cowichan Bay and the volume and odour coming from them is wafting for blocks around. Locals estimate over 300 sea lions have descended on the Cowichan community and their presence is proving a huge tourist draw.

The two whales were spotted just 10 minutes outside of Pond Inlet, surprising local guides and scientists, who say it's a sign of shifts in the ecosystem.

A stranded whale on a Waikato beach has died, despite rescuers; best efforts to save it.