A dead 50,000-pound endangered sei whale was stuck to the bow of a cruise ship that made landfall in Brooklyn over the weekend.
Following the deceased whale’s removal from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, authorities from the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society conducted a necropsy on the beach at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and discovered that the animal was healthy and had a full stomach. After more investigation, it was discovered to have a cracked right flipper and a damaged right shoulder blade, most likely from a ship impact. Although the official reason of the whale’s death was still unknown, early indications suggested a ship collision.
“On Saturday a whale was discovered on the bow of our ship as the vessel approached the port of New York,” MSC Cruises spokesperson Sidney Sterling stated in an email. “We immediately notified the relevant authorities.”
The adult female whale, measuring 44 feet, is not the first dead animal discovered on the shores of the Empire State. The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society reports that last year around thirty big whales were discovered dead off the coastlines of New Jersey and New York, the majority of whome had evidence of being hit by boats.
“While the investigation into the suspected cause of death for this sei whale is still ongoing, the risks to large whales from ship strikes remain a great concern in our region,” said Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Ocean Giants Program at Wildlife Conservation Society, according to The Gothamist.
Nearly 7.5 million containers enter and exit New York Harbor annually, making it the site of the busiest port in the United States and the Atlantic Ocean. On the East Coast, human interactions are directly responsible for around 40% of whale fatalities. Since 2016, however, the frequency of humpback whale deaths along the Atlantic coast has increased, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – leading the federal government to dub it as an uncommon mortality event.
