Update: The dead whale is now identified as a sei whale. One report says that it was hit by a cruise liner, possibly the Norwegian Breakaway.
Last month, a 60 ton dead fin whale arrived in New York harbor, pinned to the bow of a container ship calling on Port Elizabeth, NJ. This morning, a 25′ whale was spotted floating near the Brooklyn Army Terminal, close to the 58th Street pier. The New York Daily News has reported that the whale is a sperm whale, although the photos posted appear to be a baleen whale, such as a humpback or fin whale.
The whale was towed by the Army Corps of Engineers to Jersey City, where the Riverhead Foundation will attempt to determine how the whale died. Initial reports suggest that a large gash near the whale’s dorsal fin may have been caused by a ship’s propeller. As we noted in our previous post, a recent study indicates that up to 30% of whales found dead have shown evidence of being struck by a ship. Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are among the greatest threats to endangered species of whales today.
A few days ago I caught the last part of a program that said they were placing bouys in certan areas. These buys either pickrd up the sound of whales and sent a signal to thd pilot house, or the played sounds that chased the whales away, and there was a watch in the pilot housenwith bino looking for the whales.
Sorry I can’t be more correct about the above, but it was after a few beers when I watch it and I was ready to hit the rack.
With luck, I’ll run across that again.
Yes, tablet keyboads are terrible!
It makes sense:
The NCL Breakaway’s Azipods, and this whale collided:
Damaging the NCL Breakaway’s propulsion systems, and unfortunately the whale too.