A cruise ship docked in Brooklyn over the weekend with a gruesome passenger pinned to its bow: a dead, 50,000-pound endangered sei whale.
The 44-foot adult female whale's death is the latest example of marine mammals being killed by maritime traffic. About 30 large whales were found dead along the New York and New Jersey coasts last year, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society. Most showed signs of being struck 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,” wrote Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Ocean Giants Program at Wildlife Conservation Society, via email.
The dead whale was hauled from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal to the beach in Sandy Hook, NJ. There, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society officials performed a necropsy that found the whale had a full stomach and was in good health. Further examination found that its right shoulder blade was injured and its right flipper was fractured, likely as a result of a ship strike. While the whale's official cause of death had not been determined, preliminary signs pointed to a ship collision.
A spokesperson for the operator of the ship, MSC Cruises, said the company has protocols to avoid crashing into whales. Deck officers receive training on protecting marine life and the company sometimes alters its itineraries to avoid areas where whales have been spotted.
“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 wrote in an email. “We immediately notified the relevant authorities.”
Ten years ago, a 45-foot female whale was hit by a Norwegian Cruise Line ship in the Hudson River. It’s estimated that 20,000 whales die annually as a result of being struck by ships worldwide.
New York Harbor is home to the Atlantic Ocean’s busiest U.S. port. Nearly 7.5 million containers come in and out of the harbor every year. About 40% of whale deaths on the East Coast are directly related to human interactions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says humpback whales have been dying in increasing numbers along the Atlantic coast since 2016 – a pattern the federal agency describes as an unusual mortality event.
"Cruise ships are a common cause of whale mortality around the world,” wrote Danielle Brown, director of research at Gotham Whale. “Whales feed inside the shipping channels that these vessels use to transit to and from ports in New York and New Jersey.”
Last month, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-New Jersey) sent a letter to the Departments of Commerce, Transportation and Homeland Security requesting that they enforce ship speed restrictions in the New York and New Jersey ports for vessels longer than 65 feet. Thirteen other congressmembers joined Pallone in expressing concern that increasing harbor traffic threatens migrating whales.
While white-bellied sei whales usually live far off shore and away from busy ports, climate change has brought more whales closer to shore. According to NOAA, whales are affected by changing water temperatures and currents. Climate change negatively affects whale feeding behavior, stress levels and reproduction.
Although sei whales are endangered due to historic whaling, their populations are unknown. Their diet includes plankton, small schooling fish and cephalopods such as squid. They are usually found in deep subtropical, temperate and subpolar waters, and spend the hot summer months in the Gulf of Maine.
NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is investigating this incident.
“Mariners operating along the U.S. 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,” wrote the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.
