Necropsy Performed on Whale Found Dead on Cruise Ship

Dockworkers in Seward, Alaska, were met with a grim sight this week: a dead fin whale draped across the bow of a cruise ship. NOAA Fisheries says the 61-foot endangered whale was discovered on the ship's "bulbous bow" when it arrived in port last Friday. Anchorage Daily News reports the ship in question is thought to be Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas. The animal was towed to an area beach, where federal officials and the Alaska SeaLife Center are conducting a necropsy to determine how it died. "Initial findings indicate the whale was pregnant," NOAA said in a statement.

NOAA has asked the public to steer clear of the site "for your safety and to allow space for the team to perform the examination and collect samples." The Alaska head of the Center for Biological Diversity is pushing for a full probe and for mandatory ship speed limits in whale-rich waters, arguing they can significantly cut the risk of collisions. Fin whales are the world's second-largest whale species, and NOAA considers vessel strikes to be the major threat they face. USA Today reports the International Marine Mammal Project has estimated such strikes kill as many as 20,000 whales annually.