Monday, July 27, 2009

Bet You've Never Seen This on a Cruise

A Princess Lines Cruise Ship pulled into Canada Place in Vancouver, B.C. last week. Unbeknown to them, they had an additional passenger. Well, can you call a 70-foot long fin whale a passenger if it's not on board? Sometime during the night the ship struck the whale and took it all the way in to the Vancouver harbor.

Chances are, the fin whale was either dead already or killed on impact -- a strike like that would probably break it's back -- but the whale has been taken to Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Sidney for a necropsy. After the scientists determine whether the whale was dead or alive when hit, they will sink it off the west coast of Vancouver Island so that it can support a group of critters called a whale fall community.

Click here for a Vancouver Sun video at the scene.

2 comments:

kate said...

that's awful, one more reason to not take a cruise. the environmental impact of those ships is enormous! I sure hope that whale was already dead, please keep up posted!

We managed to move the shipping lane by a few miles through Stellwagen off the Mass. coast to reduce the chances of a right whale collision, there is hope!
-kate

http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com

Liza said...

Hi Kate,

It really is a shame... Definitely not something the people on the cruise were expecting! Turns out the fin whale had a thin layer of blubber and no food in her stomach. They're not sure whether she was dead or not when the ship hit her.

I'm so glad to hear that the shipping lane got moved out! It's important to keep those right whales around as long as we can. There may be an extension of the no-go zone on the west side of San Juan Island (here in Washington state) to protect the orcas from being surrounded by whale watching and personal vessels.

Thanks for your comment!

Take care,
Liza