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Endangered 44-foot whale likely killed by massive cruise ship, dragged into nyc port: experts.

A massive cruise ship likely struck and killed an endangered whale before sailing into the East River Saturday morning — and there’s no telling how long the dead mammal was dragged by the boat before it was discovered, according to marine experts.

The 44-foot adult female Sei whale was found as the MSC Meraviglia docked at the Port of Brooklyn, a spokesperson for MSC cruises confirmed.

The unlucky cetacean was removed from the 19-deck ship and towed to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Tuesday for a necropsy, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries spokesperson Andrea Gomez — but emphasized it is too soon to tell whether or not the whale was dead before impact.

Rob DiGiovanni, the founder and chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, however, told The Post it was more than likely that the “interaction with the vessel contributed to her death.”

“It looks like she was eating,” DiGiovanni said, indicating she was a healthy whale with relatively fresh food in her stomach.

The hulking Meraviglia — the same ship that rescued 24 distressed Cuban migrants from a boat off the coast of Florida last year — weighs 171,600 gross tonage and stands 214 feet tall.

When and where the whale was struck remains a mystery, but Sei whales are typically observed in deeper waters far from the coastline, according to NOAA.

They are one of the largest whale species and are internationally protected, with vessel strikes listed as one of the biggest threats to its dwindling population.

The body was “pretty decomposed,” DiGiovanni revealed, but said that does not help professionals lock down a timeline of its death.

The temperature of the water, especially on the higher side, can accelerate the decomposition process by days.

The tragic event is unfortunately not uncommon, according to DiGiovanni, but it’s nearly impossible to track just how often it occurs because the whales could sink to the bottom of the ocean floor after being struck.

Ship staff or guests also might not even notice a striking, considering just how large cruise vessels stand, making even the world’s largest mammal look like an ant.

Such strikes could contribute to the unusual mortuary event in the New York Bight Apex — the waters from Fire Island to the Manasquan Inlet in New Jersey.

Starting in 2016, humpback, Mackey and North Atlantic Right whale deaths skyrocketed from one to three per year to 12 to 14 per year, DiGiovanni said.

The shocking death surge is a tragic side effect of whales flocking to Big Apple waters in higher numbers per year, creating a Catch-22 situation.

While some stay year-round, the amount of whales enjoying the East River jumps as spring rolls around.

“We start to see increases in whale sightings now, so we urge boaters to use caution in the waters,” DiGiovanni said, encouraging ship captains to consider the “Slow: Children at Play” mentality when taking on the open seas.

NOAA reiterated this sentiment: “Mariners operating along the US East Coast are encouraged to slow their vessel speed, stay alert, and report any sightings of right whales or any dead, injured, or entangled whales.”

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44-Foot Whale Found Dead on Bow of Cruise Ship Coming Into New York

The endangered sei whale, usually found in deep waters, was discovered on the bow of a cruise ship as it arrived at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, marine authorities said.

By Livia Albeck-Ripka

As the cruise ship approached New York on Saturday, it was found to be carrying a grim, and unexpected, catch: The carcass of a 44-foot-long endangered whale, draped across its bow.

The whale, which marine authorities described as a sei whale, is known for its rapid swimming and preference for deep waters, far from the coast. Its body was discovered as the ship neared the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, and the authorities were “immediately notified,” said MSC Cruises, which owns the ship.

A spokeswoman for the company said in an email that it had “comprehensive measures” in place to avoid such collisions, including training deck officers and altering itineraries in certain areas to avoid them. “We will continue to evaluate and update our procedures with our partners and the authorities,” she said.

Marine authorities said that they had towed the animal, estimated to weigh some 50,000 pounds, from the bow, and transferred it by boat to a beach in Sandy Hook, N.J., where they conducted a necropsy on Tuesday.

The investigation is continuing, but preliminary results — broken bones in the whale’s right flipper; tissue trauma along its right shoulder blade; a full stomach and decent layer of blubber — all pointed toward the animal having been in otherwise 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, which is leading the investigation .

The whale was already “pretty decomposed” by the time scientists began the necropsy, he added, so they worked quickly to collect samples that could be tested for contaminants and other biotoxins that would indicate any other relevant health issues. “It looks like the animal was alive and it was hit by a vessel,” he said, noting that investigators had not ruled out other factors.

Mr. DiGiovanni said that his conservation group, which is federally authorized to respond to marine mammal strandings in New York, had dealt with more than 100 whales over the past several years, many of which had been entangled in nets or struck by vessels. Most of those whales were humpback and North Atlantic right whales, he added, noting that it was more uncommon to come across a sei whale.

Sei whales usually live in subtropical, temperate and subpolar waters and are named after the Norwegian word for pollock, “seje,” because the mammals are often found together with the fish. Their long, sleek bodies are usually dark blue or black with a cream-colored underside, and are often scarred by shark and lamprey bites.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the whales were commercially hunted for their meat and oil, decimating their population, which is now designated as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act .

Mr. DiGiovanni said that the death was a reminder that humans shared the open water with many other mammals. “When you’re out there, these animals might be there,” he said. “We need to make people more aware about how to operate around these animals.”

A spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said by email that mariners along the East Coast were encouraged to slow down their vessels, stay alert, and report any sightings of dead, injured or entangled whales to the authorities.

Livia Albeck-Ripka is a Times reporter based in Los Angeles, covering breaking news, California and other subjects. More about Livia Albeck-Ripka

Cruise ship drags dead whale into New York, prompting investigation

The collision with the 44-foot-long, endangered sei whale could have been avoided, experts said.

A cruise ship arrived in New York Harbor with a dead sei whale pinned to its bow, a revelation that has spawned a federal investigation and has led biologists to examine the whale’s carcass to determine the cause of death.

The MSC Meraviglia was returning Saturday from a Bermuda cruise when it sailed into the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal with the 44-foot-long sei whale affixed to its front. MSC, a Geneva-based cruise line, confirmed the incident “with deep regret” in a statement and said it had immediately notified authorities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement is investigating.

On Wednesday, the whale was towed to Sandy Hook, N.J., for a necropsy. According to NOAA, officials discovered broken bones in the right flipper, tissue trauma in the right shoulder blade region and a belly full of food. Biologists took samples for biotoxin and histopathologic analyses. NOAA spokeswoman Andrea Gomez said the tissue and bone samples can help biologists determine whether the whale died before the collision with the ship or because of it.

The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society is leading the whale examination. Results from the exam could take days to weeks, said Kathleen Collins, senior marine campaign manager with the International Fund for Animal Welfare .

Based on the findings released so far, Andy Rogan, science manager at Ocean Alliance , a whale research and conservation nonprofit, said the cruise ship probably caused the whale’s demise. If so, it would have been a sudden death.

“Whales are huge animals, but compared to a ship that size, it’s still a massive impact. So much weight and power is hitting that whale,” he said. “It’s almost certain that a ship strike killed that whale.”

According to NOAA, vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the biggest threats to sei whales, an endangered species that inhabits deeper waters off the coastline. Population figures are elusive, but NOAA documented roughly 6,300 sei whales between Florida and Nova Scotia from 2010 to 2013.

Sei whales are feeding during this time of year, and Collins said the whales eat on the surface, placing them in the potential bull’s eye for collisions with a ship’s bow. She said crew members and passengers might not have felt the bump because of the ship’s size. The MSC Meraviglia weighs 171,598 tons; sei whales weigh up to 50 tons.

“It really is a tragic case where this strike likely happened and everyone was oblivious until they came into port,” Collins said. “They likely don’t even know exactly where they struck the whale, either.”

NOAA urges boaters operating along the East Coast to cruise slowly, stay alert and report any sightings of right whales or dead, injured or entangled whales. In its statement, MSC said it follows comprehensive measures to avoid accidents with marine life, such as training deck officers with the Ocean Research & Conservation Association and adjusting itineraries in regions populated by whales.

Collins said voluntarily reducing vessel speeds can help avoid run-ins. However, she said, cruise ships and large tankers prefer to move briskly because they are on tight schedules.

Macinzie McFarland, a spokesperson for Cruise Lines International Association, said in an email that cruise ships take several measures to protect marine mammals, including whale observation training for crews and reducing vessel speed.

“The chance of mortality with a vessel strike goes down pretty substantially as you reduce the vessel speed,” Collins said.

Cruise lines also rely on technology such as underwater radiated noise management systems and specially designed hulls, propellers and noise suppression devices that minimize underwater vibrations. .

Marine outlets, agencies such as the Coast Guard and the Whale Alert app share information about whale sightings and locations.

Rogan said there is no “silver bullet” for ships to avoid whales, but advances in technology can help lower the threat. He said hydrophones can pick up whale acoustics, information that NOAA could then disseminate to vessels. At a recent workshop, Rogan said, he learned about infrared cameras that can detect whales within a 360-degree range, particularly in front of a vessel.

Rogan urged the public Thursday to share its outrage about the incident with government agencies and with the cruise line. Collins said she hoped the incident would inspire the cruise industry to act as a better steward in the waters it shares with vulnerable marine life.

The MSC Meraviglia, she noted, is headed next to Canada, a critical ground for North Atlantic right whales, including mothers and their newborn calves.

A previous version of this article misstated the maximum weight of sei whales. It is 50 tons, not 10 tons. The article has been corrected.

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78 pilot whales were slaughtered near a cruise ship carrying marine conservationists

Emily Olson

A group of fisherman drive pilot whales towards the shore during a hunt in the Faroe Islands in May 2019. Andrija Ilic/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A group of fisherman drive pilot whales towards the shore during a hunt in the Faroe Islands in May 2019.

A cruise line is apologizing to passengers who witnessed the killing of dozens of pilot whales near their docked ship this week in the Faroe Islands.

Passengers aboard the cruise ship Ambition, owned by the U.K.-based Ambassador Cruise Line, had just arrived Sunday in the port of Tórshavn in the Danish territory when they caught the spectacle, part of a long-standing and highly scrutinized local tradition.

Among those passengers were conservationists with ORCA, a marine life advocacy group that seeks to protect whales and dolphins in European waters. Since 2021, Ambassador has paid for ORCA staff to join their cruises in order to educate tourists on marine wildlife and collect data on the animals.

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In an account shared by ORCA and confirmed by Ambassador, the conservationists said over 40 small boats and jet skis herded the whales to a beach where 150 people worked to haul the animals ashore with hooks and slaughter them with lances.

In total, the hunt lasted about 20 minutes, ORCA said. Some of the animals, which included nine calves, took over 30 seconds to die.

Ambassador Cruise Line said it was "incredibly disappointed" that the hunt unfolded near the ship and that it continues to "strongly object to this practice." The company asks their guests not to support the hunters by purchasing local whale and dolphin meat.

"We fully appreciate that witnessing this local event would have been distressing for the majority of guests onboard," Ambassador said in a statement to NPR. "Accordingly, we would like to sincerely apologise to them for any undue upset."

A representative for the Faroe Islands government did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on Sunday's hunt.

Where are the whales? Scientists find clues thousands of miles away

Long-finned pilot whales , which are technically a species of dolphin, are a medium-sized marine mammal that dwells in the North Atlantic, known for their bulbous head and sickle-shaped flippers. They're not currently listed as an endangered species, but as a sign their population may be on the decline due to human activity, the species is listed under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the U.S..

The mammals live in social pods of up to 20 individuals, organized into a larger school of hundreds of animals — a social structure that makes them easy targets for whalers, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In the Faroe Islands, the hunting of pilot whales is known as the "grindadrap" or "grind." The Faroese view the tradition as central to their cultural identity and a sustainable way to gather food, according to a local government website.

The government says the killing is not highly commercialized. Each catch is "distributed for free in the local community" but "in some supermarkets and on the dockside, whale meat and blubber is occasionally available for sale."

Toothed whales use 'vocal fry' to hunt for food, scientists say

Multiple hunts can occur throughout the year, and each is carried out by people with a required license and supervised by elected officials. Local legislation stipulates the killing must be carried out as "quickly and efficiently as possible."

The government says the average catch is around 800 animals, an insignificant impact on the overall pilot whale population, which it says is around 778,000 animals.

But a record single-day killing of more than 1,400 white-sided dolphins in 2021 brought the practice into intensified scrutiny. The chairman of the Faroese Whalers Association told the BBC that the size of that killing was purely accidental.

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That Sunday's slaughter unfolded near the cruise ship made it seem as if the whalers were "flaunting the hunt and taunting the tourists," many of whom were hoping to catch a glimpse of marine life in the wild, ORCA CEO Sally Hamilton said.

"It defies belief that the Faroese authorities allowed this activity to take place in clear sight of a cruise ship packed with passengers," she wrote in a statement shared with NPR. "At some point, the Faroese authorities will have to decide if its marine life is a more attractive tourist proposition when it is alive than when it is being killed."

The cruise ship was docked for a stop in Tórshavn, the main harbor of the 18-island territory between Iceland and the Shetland Islands. While the local government has invested more into its tourism sector, fishing and marine-related industries still remain the region's top economic driver .

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Cruise ship arrives in NYC port with 44-foot dead endangered whale caught on its bow

Updated on: May 9, 2024 / 11:41 AM EDT / CBS/AP

A cruise ship sailed into a New York City port with a 44-foot dead whale across its bow, marine authorities said.

The whale, identified as an endangered sei whale , was caught on the ship's bow when it arrived at the Port of Brooklyn on Saturday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries spokesperson Andrea Gomez said. A necropsy conducted later confirmed the whale's species and determined that the creature was a mature female, said the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, a nonprofit organization that conducted the exam on an marine mammal.

A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said the whale was on the MSC Meraviglia, which docked at Brooklyn before sailing to ports in New England and Canada.

"We immediately notified the relevant authorities, who are now conducting an examination of the whale," officials with the cruise line said in a statement.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life," the officials said, adding that the Geneva-based MSC Cruises follows all regulations designed to protect whales, such as altering itineraries in certain regions to avoid hitting the animals .

The dead whale was relocated to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and towed to shore there to allow for better access to equipment and to conduct a necropsy, Gomez said.

The necropsy, an autopsy on an animal, was conducted on Tuesday, Gomez said. Samples collected from the whale will help biologists determine whether it was already dead when it was struck by the ship, she said.

Basic results of that exam showed evidence of tissue trauma in the area of the whale's right shoulder blade and a fractured right flipper, said the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society. In a post shared Wednesday to its Facebook page, the organization also said those tests revealed the whale's gastrointestinal tract was "full of food." Samples of its organs will undergo toxicology reviews and analyses to identify any potential tissue diseases.

"The tissue and bone samples collected will help biologists determine if the vessel interaction occurred pre or post mortem," said the conservation society.

Sei whales are typically observed in deeper waters far from the coastline, Gomez said. They are one of the largest whale species and are internationally protected.

According to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation , sei whales eat 2,000 pounds of fish and plankton per day. They can grow up to 60 feet long, weigh as much as 50 tons and live on average between 50-70 years.

The incident marks the latest endangered whale to be found dead along the East Coast.  Last month, federal authorities said a North Atlantic right whale that was found floating 50 miles offshore east of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was killed in a collision with a ship .

In March, NOAA said the first  North Atlantic right whale  baby born this season had  died after being hit by a vessel .

Environmental groups have called for tighter regulations on commercial fishing and shipping to try to save the whales.

In Massachusetts, there's a proposal to put  speed limits on fast ferries  to Cape Cod and the Islands to protect whales. The ferry companies counter that this would drastically reduce service, and say their captains have never seen a right whale on the job. 

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Dead whale caught on bow of MSC Cruises ship, authorities investigating

Authorities are conducting an investigation after a dead whale was found caught on the bow of an MSC Cruises ship.

The whale was discovered as the MSC Meraviglia ship approached the port in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday. “We immediately notified the relevant authorities, who are now conducting an examination of the whale,” a spokesperson for the line told USA TODAY in an emailed statement.

The roughly 44-foot-long sei whale was towed to shore at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, for a necropsy, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries spokesperson Andrea Gomez. The examination, done on Tuesday, found broken bones in its right flipper and “evidence of tissue trauma along the right shoulder blade region.” The gastrointestinal tract was full of food, as well.

Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, the lead on the case, said in a Facebook post that the whale was a mature female.

“Most of the other organs were sampled including for biotoxin analysis and other life history studies,” Gomez said in an emailed statement. “Samples were collected and will be sent for histopathologic analysis. The tissue and bone samples collected will help biologists determine if the vessel interaction occurred pre or post mortem.”

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident. Gomez noted that sei whales are endangered and usually seen a great distance from the coast in deeper waters.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life,” the MSC spokesperson added. “We have comprehensive measures in place to help avoid collisions, such as training all our deck officers with the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA) and we follow regulations designed to protect whales and other marine life. This includes altering itineraries in certain regions to avoid whales and we will continue to evaluate and update our procedures with our partners and the authorities.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

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Cruise Ship Likely Killed Endangered Whale Before Dragging Carcass To New York

The msc meraviglia's crew didn't notice the ship's collision with a 50-ton sei whale.

A 1,036-foot-long cruise ship sailed into New York Harbor last Saturday with a dead endangered whale pinned to the ship’s bow. While a cause of death hasn’t been officially determined, investigators’ initial findings point toward a ship strike killing the 44-foot-long sei whale. Yet another incident to encourage sea creatures to attack pleasure crafts.  

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The MSC Meraviglia was returning to the Big Apple after a cruise to Bermuda. One wonders how could the ship’s crew not realize that they were dragging a massive whale, however while the Sei whales can weigh up to 50 tons, the Meraviglia weighs over 171,000 tons. It’s no contest. NOAA is examining the whale’s carcass to determine if the whale was dead before it ended up on the bow or killed by it. The New York Times reports:

“The investigation is continuing, but preliminary results — broken bones in the whale’s right flipper; tissue trauma along its right shoulder blade; a full stomach and decent layer of blubber — all pointed toward the animal having been in otherwise 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, which is leading the investigation.”

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Sei whales are an endangered species with an estimated population of at most 80,000. NOAA estimates that commercial whaling operations killed 300,000 sei whales for their meat and oil during the 19th and 20th centuries. Since whaling has been completely outlawed in the 1980s, ship strikes have been the most significant threat to whales. MSC Cruises told USA Today:

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life. We have comprehensive measures in place to help avoid collisions, such as training all our deck officers with the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA) and we follow regulations designed to protect whales and other marine life. This includes altering itineraries in certain regions to avoid whales and we will continue to evaluate and update our procedures with our partners and the authorities.”

According to the International Whaling Commission , large vessels striking whales often go unnoticed and unreported as a result. The change in mortality rate caused by ship strikes is significant enough to be the difference between a species’ extinction and survival.

Massacring marine wildlife makes it even more difficult to stomach the notion of spending a vacation on a cruise ship. This is on top of cruise lines covering up sexual assault , having ships burst into flames and pumping out carbon dioxide on a scale comparable to a small industrialized nation.

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Officials begin investigation after cruise ship arrives at harbor with endangered whale corpse across bow: 'We are deeply saddened'

The arrival of a cruise ship in New York led to an investigation after authorities spotted an endangered whale across its bow.

What happened?

The Associated Press reported that the Meraviglia, a ship owned by Swiss-Italian line MSC Cruises, pulled into the Port of Brooklyn on May 5 with a dead 44-foot sei whale across its bow, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries spokesperson Andrea Gomez.

"We immediately notified the relevant authorities, who are now conducting an examination of the whale," cruise line officials said in a statement. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life."

Gomez told the AP that officials transferred the whale to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and performed an autopsy on May 7. The results have not yet been revealed.

Why is this concerning?

According to NOAA Fisheries , vessel strikes and net entanglement are now the biggest threats to sei whales after the International Whaling Commission issued an edict to halt commercial whaling practices in the 1980s.

Rising global temperatures may be playing an interconnected part. The organization notes that sea traffic is expected to increase as new routes open because of melting sea ice. Additional noise pollution can also impact the ability of certain marine species to navigate their habitats.

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As for the nets, "hundreds of millions of marine animals" are killed or hurt every year by these nonbiodegradable entities, as detailed by Plastic Soup Foundation.

Many modern fishing nets contain plastic, a material overwhelmingly made from dirty fuels, like motor oil and gasoline . These nets then leach toxins into our environment.

One investigation found that a group of stranded marine mammals had high levels of PCBs, a now-banned harmful chemical that used to be used in many plastics .

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That's not to mention the 12.1 million tons of plastics that enter our oceans, per the Ocean Conservancy. Other animals have starved from the inside out after ingesting the material .

While it's unclear if the whale was alive before ending up on the ship's bow, its death is an unfortunate reminder of how our activities can negatively impact other creatures — and ultimately contribute to a less healthy planet for everyone who calls Earth home.

What can be done about this?

The AP notes that sei whales are an internationally protected species, and officials with MSC Cruises indicated that they adhere to all regulations intended to protect whales, including altering routes as needed to avoid collisions.

If a collision was indeed a factor in the whale's death, authorities will likely study the data and formulate a plan to limit the possibility of this happening again.

As far as plastic nets are concerned, some governments have already banned bottom trawling, a practice that can result in broken and abandoned gear.

You can help keep our planet and oceans healthy by participating in local cleanup efforts and swapping single-use plastic products, like grocery bags and razors , for reusable items made from less toxic and more durable materials.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and cool tips that make it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.

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Cruise ship sails into New York with dead endangered whale across its bow

Examination underway to determine if 13-metre sei whale died before or after strike.

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A cruise ship sailed into a New York City port with a 13-metre dead whale across its bow, marine authorities said.

The whale, identified as an endangered sei whale, was caught on the ship's bow when it arrived at the Port of Brooklyn on Saturday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries spokesperson Andrea Gomez said.

A video posted to YouTube on Saturday appears to show the whale's carcass hanging off the bow of the vessel, with the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline in the background. 

A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said the whale was on the MSC Meraviglia, which docked at Brooklyn before sailing to ports in New England and Canada. The ship arrived in Saint John on Wednesday.

"We immediately notified the relevant authorities, who are now conducting an examination of the whale," officials with the cruise line said in a statement.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life," the officials said, adding that the Geneva-based MSC Cruises follows all regulations designed to protect whales, such as altering itineraries in certain regions to avoid hitting the animals.

The dead whale was relocated to Sandy Hook, N.J., and towed to shore there to allow for better access to equipment and to conduct a necropsy, Gomez said.

A team from the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society conducted the necropsy on Tuesday. 

The examination determined the animal was a mature female and found evidence of tissue trauma along the area of its right shoulder blade, as well as a right flipper fracture, the organization said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Biologists will examine tissue and bone samples to determine whether it was already dead when it was struck by the ship, the post read.

Sei whales are typically observed in deeper waters far from the coastline, NOAA's Gomez said.

They are one of the largest whale species and are internationally protected.

Baby orca swims free after weeks trapped in B.C. lagoon

With files from CBC News

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