Endangered whale found dead at Brooklyn cruise port was likely struck by ship
An endangered whale found dead on the bow of a cruise ship in Brooklyn was likely struck by the vessel, according to examinations by a conservation group.
The 44-foot sei whale suffered “tissue trauma along the right shoulder blade region and a right flipper fracture,” the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society said Wednesday in a Facebook post. Its digestive tract was full of food, the group added.
The MSC Meraviglia cruise ship pulled into Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on May 4 with the dead mature female whale on its bow. The whale was removed and taken to Sandy Hook, N.J., for the AMCS to examine.
The group is authorized by federal authorities to respond to dead whales in New York and conduct animal autopsies, or necropsies. Several of the whale’s organs were sampled for toxins, which were sent to a lab for further study.
“The tissue and bone samples collected will help biologists determine if the vessel interaction occurred pre or post mortem,” the conservation society wrote on Facebook.
Sei whales are classified as endangered and typically seen in deeper waters far from the coast, particularly in subtropical, temperate and subpolar regions.
A spokesperson for MSC Cruises, which operates the MSC Meraviglia, said the ship docked in Brooklyn before a planned trip to sites in New England and Canada.
“We immediately notified the relevant authorities, who are now conducting an examination of the whale,” cruise line officials said in a statement.
The AMCS conducted the necropsy on Tuesday. The incident is also being investigated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scientists estimated there are 50,000 sei whales remaining in the wild internationally. They have been protected by international treaties since 1970, after decades of whaling decimated the population.
With News Wire Services
