A dead fin whale was found on a cruise ship’s bow in Sitka, Alaska.
“Our Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network team is responding to assess and determine next steps,” NOAA Fisheries told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. The agency was notified on Sept. 17.
NOAA Fisheries did not yet have additional details to share, and did not name the cruise ship involved.
The incident is the second of its kind in recent months, after a cruise ship belonging to Royal Caribbean Group arrived in Seward, Alaska with a dead fin whale on its bow in June. “Preliminary necropsy findings showed blunt force trauma to the jaw, spine, and ribs consistent with a vessel strike,” the Alaska SeaLife Center said in a news release at the time.
ships are impacting Alaska's environment
Fin whales are an endangered species named for a fin near their tails, according to NOAA Fisheries’ website. Behind blue whales, they are the second-biggest whale species on the planet.
“Whaling is no longer a threat for fin whales (commercial whaling ended in the 1970s and 1980s, though some subsistence hunting continues today in Greenland under sustainable quotas allowed by the International Whaling Commission),” the agency said. “Currently, the major threat to this species comes from vessel strikes.”
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Whale found on cruise ship bow in Alaska for second time since June
