Cruise ship arrives in New York with dead endangered whale stuck on bow

globalnews.ca:

A cruise ship entering a New York City port on Saturday attracted attention as it carried the carcass of an over 13-metre-long, endangered whale on its bow.

Marine authorities identified the mammal as a mature sei whale, a species of fast-swimming whale found in subtropical, temperate and subpolar waters around the world.

The whale was already dead when the MSC Meraviglia cruise ship, owned by MSC Cruises, arrived at the Port of Brooklyn.

A spokesperson for MSC Cruises told the Associated Press the company “immediately” notified relevant authorities about the whale.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life,” the MSC Cruises official said.

The whale was relocated to a beach in Sandy Hook, N.J., for a necropsy (animal autopsy) completed by the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.

In a social media post, the organization said the necropsy “revealed evidence of tissue trauma along the right shoulder blade region, and a right flipper fracture.”

The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society reported the whale’s gastrointestinal tract was filled with blood.

It is too early to determine if the whale was struck by the cruise ship before or after its death.

Still, Robert A. DiGiovanni, the chief scientist at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, told the New York Times the 50,000-pound mammal’s full stomach likely indicated it was in good health and was probably killed by the vessel.

DiGiovanni said the whale was already “pretty decomposed” when researchers began the necropsy.

The whale’s examination spanned four days and took place in New Jersey to allow for the use of the heavy equipment and resources needed to examine the sei whale carcass.

Other toxicology and life history studies are still being completed.

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