On Saturday, May 4, the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia arrived at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in New York Harbor dragging the carcass of a 44-foot-long endangered sei whale, caught on the ship’s bulbous bow.

Sei whales are endangered and are typically observed in deeper waters far from the coastline. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is investigating this incident. The whale was relocated and towed to shore at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, to allow for better access to heavy equipment and resources to conduct a necropsy.

According to the New York Times, results of a preliminary investigation show broken bones in the whale’s right flipper; tissue trauma along its right shoulder blade; a full stomach, and a decent layer of blubber.  These all point toward the animal having been in otherwise good health when it was likely struck and killed by the ship, said Robert A. DiGiovanni, the chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, which is leading the investigation.

The whale was already “pretty decomposed” by the time scientists began the necropsy, he added, so they worked quickly to collect samples that could be tested for contaminants and other biotoxins that would indicate any other relevant health issues. “It looks like the animal was alive and it was hit by a vessel,” he said, noting that investigators had not ruled out other factors.

Sadly, whales being dragged into New York Harbor, killed by ship strikes, is not new. In 2014, two dead whales arrived in the harbor, pinned to the bows of ships in less than a month.

Overall, an estimated 20,000 whales are killed every year, and many more are injured, after being struck by ships.

Thanks to Roberta Weisbrod for contributing to this post.