As the cruise ship approached New York on Saturday, it appeared to have a grim and unexpected catch on board: the corpse of a 45-foot-long endangered whale draped over the bow.
The whale, described by maritime authorities as a sei whale, is known for its fast swimming and preference for deep waters, far from shore. The body was discovered as the ship approached the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, and authorities were “immediately notified,” according to MSC Cruises, which owns the ship.
A company spokeswoman said in an email that it has taken “comprehensive measures” to prevent such collisions, including training deck officers and changing routes in certain areas to avoid them. “We will continue to review and update our procedures with our partners and authorities,” she said.
Maritime authorities said they towed the animal, estimated to weigh about 50,000 pounds, from the bow and transferred it by boat to a beach in Sandy Hook, N.J., where they conducted an autopsy on Tuesday.
Research continues, but preliminary results include broken bones in the whale's right fin; tissue trauma along the right scapula; a full stomach and a fair amount of blubber — all indications were that the animal was otherwise in good health when it was likely struck and killed by the ship, said Robert A. DiGiovanni, the chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, who lead the investigation.
The whale was already “quite decomposed” by the time scientists began the autopsy, he added, so they worked quickly to collect samples that could be tested for contaminants and other biotoxins that could indicate other relevant health problems. “It appears the animal was still alive and was hit by a ship,” he said, noting that investigators had not ruled out other factors.
Mr. Giovanni said his conservation group, which is federally authorized to respond to marine mammal strandings in New York, has dealt with about 100 whales in recent years, many of which had become entangled in nets or struck by ships. Most of these whales were humpback and North Atlantic right whales, he added, noting that it was more unusual to encounter a sei whale.
Sei whales usually live in subtropical, temperate and subpolar waters and are named after the Norwegian word for coalfish, 'seje', because the mammals are often found together with the fish. Their long, slender bodies are usually dark blue or black with a cream-colored underside, and are often scarred from bites from sharks and lampreys.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, whales were hunted commercially for their meat and oil, decimating their population. exhausted below the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Mr Giovanni said the death was a reminder that humans shared the open water with many other mammals. “If you're there, these animals could be there,” he said. “We need to make people more aware of how to handle these animals.”
A spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said by email that sailors along the East Coast were encouraged to slow their ships, stay alert and report any sightings of dead, injured or entangled whales to authorities.