‘Tremendously sad’: Dead fin whale found on bow of cruise ship near Sitka, Alaska

A dead fin whale wound up on the bow of the Norwegian Joy cruise ship and blocked its port near Sitka Bay in Alaska, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed.

In an updated statement Friday, NOAA Fisheries said the 57.5-foot adult male fin whale was found on top of the ship’s bulbous bow when it arrived in Sitka on Thursday. A local company towed the whale toward a nearby beach but was unable to beach it because it was freshly dead and not buoyant. The animal has been secured near the beach.

NOAA said it is working with its Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network partners to assess whether a necropsy, an animal autopsy, can be performed to determine the cause of death. The agency said it will assess and determine next steps as weather conditions allow, and asked the public to maintain a safe distance from the whale.

The NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the 24-hour enforcement hotline at 800-853-1964.

Fin whales are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. NOAA reminded the public that it is illegal for anyone to collect tissue, baleen, or any part of the whale, unless they are an Alaska Native collecting tissue or parts for subsistence or use in handicrafts.

Traveler says ship shut everything down as crews worked to remove whale

A traveler aboard the ship, Gretchen McLaurin, told KIRO Newsradio that an announcement was made at roughly 7:45 a.m., telling travelers that everything had been shut down as crews worked to remove the whale.

“We’re kind of rounding the corner to where we’ll be docking, and they announced that they had to shut everything down and wait, and we couldn’t port because there was a whale on the bow, and that’s all we know,” McLaurin said.

A spokesperson from Norwegian Cruise Line shared the following statement.

We are deeply saddened by this situation, and we are cooperating with the appropriate authorities and any relevant scientific and wildlife experts as part of the assessment process.

As a company whose business is closely linked to the health of our oceans, we are committed to supporting marine conservation. ‘Caring for Nature’ is a core pillar of our Sail & Sustain program and we continue to work with partners to advance efforts that help protect and expand our knowledge of marine ecosystems.

This is a sobering reminder of the importance of ongoing collaboration among the maritime, scientific and conservation communities. We remain committed to operating responsibly, complying with applicable laws and regulations and supporting efforts that contribute to the long-term health of marine life.”

Coast Guard pulls whale from bow on a line

McLaurin described the scene as passengers could view the dead whale being removed from the bow.

“We’re up on what they call the observation deck, so we’re just looking straight out the front of the boat right now,” McLaurin said. “We saw the Coast Guard boat, tugboat style, pull the whale off on a line. The whale was definitely belly up, and there was a visible wound on what would have been the posterior belly. When I say a visible wound, I mean it was just pink, and the rest of the whale looked fairly gray and white.”

McLaurin explained the irony: the ship was scheduled to embark on a whale-watching cruise through Sitka Bay, but the situation had become “tremendously sad.”

She put the moment in perspective and expressed her feelings for the ship captain in this one-of-a-kind event.

“I just feel really bad for the whale, and I feel really bad for the captain,” McLaurin said. “You’re out here and it’s so vast and you think, oh, there’s no way, right? There’s no way.”

As for the disruption to the cruise itinerary, McLaurin said it was a “bummer,” but the whale’s health mattered more than her travel plans.

“The whale got the worst part of it,” she said. “I don’t know what the plan is right now because Sitka’s apparently one of those ports where you have to shuttle into town. Now, because of that, almost everyone here is in the same predicament we were.

“I’m sure some excursions may still be able to go out, but with ours in particular, the amount of time we’re supposed to be gone on the boat would put us too close to when [the ship] has to leave. I’m sure ours will just be canceled,” she continued.

McLaurin has since confirmed that the ship was able to dock, and passengers have begun disembarking.

NOAA Fisheries has been notified of the dead fin whale, and its Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network team is responding to assess and determine the next steps.

Anyone who sees a stranded, injured, entangled, or dead marine mammal can call the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Statewide 24-hour Stranding Hotline at 877-925-7773.

Contributing: Frank Lenzi, KIRO Newsradio; Jason Sutich, MyNorthwest