Cruise ship arrives in Alaska with dead fin whale on its bow

Key Points:

• A cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean Group arrived in Seward, Alaska, on June 19 with a dead, endangered 61-foot pregnant female fin whale lodged on its bulbous bow; the whale was towed ashore for a necropsy to determine the cause of death.
• NOAA Fisheries and the Alaska SeaLife Center are conducting the necropsy, while the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident and seeking public information through a hotline.
• Conservationists condemned the incident, calling for mandatory speed limits in whale habitats to reduce ship strikes, which are a major threat to large whales alongside fishing gear entanglement and climate change.
• Fin whales, the second-largest whale species, are endangered and protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act; they face threats primarily from vessel collisions in busy shipping lanes and migratory routes.
• Whale deaths from vessel strikes have been increasing globally, with recent incidents involving multiple species along the U.S. West Coast and elsewhere, highlighting ongoing risks to marine mammals from human activities.