Cruise ship sails into New York City port with 13m dead whale across its bow

The dead whale was reported on the front of the MSC Meraviglia, one of the liner's largest cruise ships. Photo / Getty Images, Pablo Santa Cruz

A cruise ship sailed into a New York City port with a 13m dead whale across its bow, marine authorities said.

The whale, identified as an endangered sei whale, was caught on the ship’s bow when it arrived at the Port of Brooklyn on Saturday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries spokesperson Andrea Gomez said.

MSC Cruises said the whale was on the MSC Meraviglia, which docked at Brooklyn before sailing to ports in New England and Canada.

“We immediately notified the relevant authorities, who are now conducting an examination of the whale,” officials with the cruise line said in a statement.

Dead Whale 5/4/24
New York https://t.co/9r7BpldOw7 via @YouTube pic.twitter.com/R97wSRo3ai

— USA East Coast Strandings (@UsaStrandings) May 5, 2024

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life,” the officials said, adding that the Geneva-based MSC Cruises follows all regulations designed to protect whales, such as altering itineraries in certain regions to avoid hitting the animals.

Whalewatch group USA East Coast Strandings said that the New York Marine Rescue Centre “confirmed that a dead whale was reported on Saturday May 4, 2024. United States Coast Guard was also notified of the event because it was at the bow of a cruise ship”.

Video footage shared by a New York resident, Pablo Santa Cruz, appeared to show the lifeless whale on the prow of the ship, with Liberty Island in the background.

The dead whale was relocated to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and towed to shore there to allow for better access to equipment and to conduct a necropsy, Gomez said.

The necropsy, an autopsy on an animal, was conducted on Tuesday, Gomez said. Samples collected from the whale will help biologists determine whether it was already dead when it was struck by the ship, she said.

Sei whales are typically observed in deeper waters far from the coastline, Gomez said. They are one of the largest whale species and are internationally protected.

- AP with additional reporting