44-foot whale found dead on bow of cruise ship in New York

NEW YORK >> As the cruise ship approached New York on Saturday, it was discovered to be carrying a grim and unexpected catch: the carcass of a 44-foot-long, endangered whale hanging off the bow.

The whale, which marine authorities call a sei whale, is known for its fast swimming and preference for deep waters far from shore. His body was discovered as the ship approached the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and authorities were “immediately notified,” said MSC Cruises, which owns the ship.

A spokesman for the company said in an email that it has taken “extensive measures” to avoid such collisions, including training deck officers and changing travel routes in certain areas to avoid such collisions. “We will continue to evaluate and update our procedures together with our partners and authorities,” she said.

Marine authorities said they towed the animal, estimated to weigh about 50,000 pounds, from its bow and took it by boat to a beach in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, where they performed a necropsy on Tuesday.

The investigation is ongoing, but preliminary results: broken bones in the whale’s right fin; tissue trauma along the right scapula; a full stomach; and a good layer of blubber – everything suggested the animal was otherwise in good health when it was likely hit and killed by the ship, said Robert A. DiGiovanni, chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, which is leading the investigation .

The whale was already “quite decomposed” when scientists began the necropsy, he added, so they worked quickly to collect samples that could be tested for contaminants and other biotoxins that would indicate other relevant health problems. “It looks like the animal was alive and was hit by a ship,” he said, noting that investigators have not ruled out other factors.

DiGiovanni said his conservation group, which is federally authorized to respond to marine mammal strandings in New York, has struggled with about 100 whales in recent years, many of which had become entangled in nets or struck by ships. Most of these whales are humpbacks and North Atlantic right whales, he added, noting that it is unusual to encounter a sei whale.

Sei whales typically live in subtropical, temperate and subpolar waters and are named after the Norwegian word for pollock, “seje,” because the mammals are often found alongside fish. Their long, smooth bodies are usually dark blue or black with a cream-colored underside and often show scars from shark and lamprey bites.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the whales were hunted commercially for their meat and oil, decimating their population, which is now considered depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

DiGiovanni said the death was a reminder that humans shared open water with many other mammals. “If you’re out there, these animals could be there,” he said. “We need to make people more aware of how to treat these animals.”

A spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said via email that mariners along the East Coast were urged to slow their vessels, remain vigilant and report any sightings of dead, injured or entangled whales to authorities.