Threatened Whale Impaled On Cruise Ship (VIDEO)

An approximately 70 foot long threatened fin whale was found impaled on the bow of a Princess Cruise Line ship that had been sailing from Alaska to Canada on Sunday.

WATCH:

Check out Treehugger's article on new technologies that can prevent whale/ship collisions and protect endangered and threatened species of whales.

Comments

[PresidentRobertBooth]

03:57 PM on 07/28/2009

Cruise ships move pretty slowly

If a whale doesn't get out of the way, then well....tough.

[sense oar sheep]

02:05 PM on 07/28/2009

i wanted to mention this when the article was first posted, but waited until preliminary necropsy reports arrived:

Fin whale hit by cruise ship had no food in its stomach, tests show
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/whale+cruise+ship+food+stomach+tests+show/1835929/story.html

it also appears the whale wasn't impaled but caught between the top of the bulbous bow and along the rake of the stem.

[Opalita]

09:38 PM on 08/04/2009

Though this is a disturbing story, I was heartened by the fact that they towed the whale carcass west of Vancouver Island, where if will create an ecosystem that could last for years.

[jasev01]

02:55 AM on 07/28/2009

Sell the meat to the Japanese.

[Aslanspal]

01:49 AM on 07/28/2009

OMG! I cannot bring myself to watch this...would have a breakdown.

What we have done to our fellow mammals is heartbreaking

"Bless the Beasts and the Children"

[southwindow]

12:49 AM on 07/28/2009

How do you hit a whale and not notice?
Hopefully this will not affect our divine right to mega cruise ships. Imagine the inconvenience of having to steer away from whales!!

[Clownbaby]

11:04 PM on 07/27/2009

Weird hood ornament, but to each his own.

[globalwarmingisafraud]

10:54 PM on 07/27/2009

I killed a deer with the car. I guess the logical reaction here would be to stop using cars and limit the human population?

[sfmomma]

01:13 AM on 07/28/2009

Unlike the dear population which has risen dramatically in the past century, the global population of the fin whale has declined 70% over the last eighty years.

[pricespector]

10:50 PM on 07/27/2009

Oh no! Lets ban all the ships from the oceans! Maybe they can start a new TV show called "Cruise-wars".

[MarkInEugene]

10:40 PM on 07/27/2009

A unfortunate freak accident. There's only one blue planet and we are the stewards.

Will we take care?

[PresidentRobertBooth]

09:57 PM on 07/27/2009

It was just an accident.

Hardly deserves the "oh my goodness, humans are raping the planet" hysteria.

[michaleenflynn]

09:55 PM on 07/27/2009

How unfortunate :-( Hopefully better systems of ship/whale avoidance are on the drawing boards.

And to all the people lambasting cruise ships - ever hear of throwing the baby out with the bathwater? (insert whale/sea water)

@@

[mick7191]

09:11 PM on 07/27/2009

Do you really have to put this stuff up? Jesus.

[CanyonWren]

11:19 PM on 07/27/2009

Agreed. HuffPo loves to put the sensationalist animal and children headlines up.

[lazywhiteamerican]

09:04 PM on 07/27/2009

Given the sensitivity of whales it is hard to believe a healthy what would not notice all the noise a ship that size makes from miles away. One has to wonder if the whale was not in some kind of serious trouble even before it was hit.

[AmandaBC]

09:18 PM on 07/27/2009

Heavy tanker/cruise ship traffic + narrow waters = lots of confused whales.

[liamd1]

11:52 PM on 07/27/2009

Wondered the same thing my self. It's not like those ships are fast.

[fcsakes]

09:00 PM on 07/27/2009

Cruise ships are too big - they foul the waters with their garbage and waste, imperil small watercraft, sicken their customers and destroy wildlife.

The almighty dollar rules - the almighty dollar is the only thing that will be left. We'll only be able to buy other dollars with it because that's all the ordinary citizen will have. The rich will eat whale meat and drink priceless water because they'll own it all and we will have given it to them with an obsequious bow.

[CrittersRTasty]

09:43 PM on 07/27/2009

Wow, good thing you werent overly dramatic about this.

[poomplet]

11:15 PM on 07/27/2009

Thanks for clarifying that it's the RICH that are drinking all our priceless water. I guess in China, India & Africa they all drink yak pisss.

[Sampsontheorange]

01:45 AM on 07/28/2009

no they drink dirty, polluted water which we contribute to by buying their products and selling them in our superstores.

[AmandaBC]

08:51 PM on 07/27/2009

This was an accident waiting to happen. Too many cruise ships going from Seattle/Vancouver to Juneau/Skagway travel through the Inside Passage to satisfy the ambition of clueless tourists who want to claim they've seen the "Great White North" (from a very comfortable armchair in a heated luxury room...) Unfortunately, the waters just off the coast of Port Hardy (northern Vancouver Island) are usually crammed with whales in this season. The poor thing must have been dragged from there all the way south to Vancouver. I seriously doubt the animal was instantly kiIIed, it's not like cruise ships travel at 30+ kts in narrow waters...

[AmandaBC]

09:01 PM on 07/27/2009

BTW, there's a lot of tanker and cruise ship traffic traveling in those waters, don't even think that this kind of vessel kiIIing a whale is all that uncommon. What's rare is the impaling thing, usually they get trounced by the propellers. Unfortunately, it's not too uncommon to see one of these beautiful mammals washing ashore d.ead or barely alive with unbelievable gaping wounds.