NOAA says dead fin whale brought to Seward showed trauma consistent with vessel strike

NOAA Fisheries says preliminary necropsy findings on a dead fin whale brought into Seward on a cruise ship's bow showed injuries consistent with a vessel strike.

The ship arrived at the dock in Seward on Friday, June 19, with a dead 61-foot adult female fin whale on top of its bulbous bow. A local company towed the whale to a nearby beach for a necropsy.

NOAA Fisheries worked with the Alaska SeaLife Center and Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services over the weekend to examine the whale and determine a cause of death.

The whale was pregnant, freshly dead and in good nutritional condition, with plenty of blubber and muscle, according to NOAA's statement.

Preliminary findings showed blunt-force trauma to the whale's jaw, spine and ribs consistent with a vessel strike, NOAA said. The official cause of death remains pending while histological and diagnostic testing is completed on collected samples. That testing can take months, the agency said.

A law-enforcement investigation is ongoing.

Plans are underway to tow the carcass out to sea as soon as possible. NOAA said it is expected to sink and nourish deep-sea marine life.

Fin whales are large baleen whales found in Alaska waters. Vessel strikes are a recognized risk for large whales, particularly where shipping lanes, cruise traffic and whale habitat overlap.