An endangered species of sei whale, which usually lives in deep waters, was found on the bow of a cruise ship when it arrived at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. According to The New York Times, this was reported by the maritime authorities, UNN reports.
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On Saturday, a cruise ship approached New York City's Kohala, and during the inspection, a dead whale was found clinging to the bow of the vessel.
Marine experts identified the type of animal - it was a sei whale, known for its fast swimming and for preferring deep waters, far from the coast.
MSC Cruises, which owns the ship, said that the company is taking a number of measures to avoid such collisions. In particular, it trains deck officers and changes routes in certain areas to avoid whales.
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Marine authorities reported that they towed the whale, which weighed more than 22,000 kg, to a beach in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, where they conducted a necropsy. According to preliminary results, the animal was alive and generally healthy when it was likely hit and killed by the ship.
The conservation group reported that it has dealt with more than 100 whales in the past few years, many of which have become entangled in nets or hit by vessels. The majority of these whales were humpback and North Atlantic right whales, and sei whale injuries remain more rare.
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Sei whales typically live in subtropical, temperate, and subpolar waters and are named after the Norwegian word for pollock, seje, because the mammals are often found together with fish. Their long, sleek bodies are usually dark blue or black with a creamy underside, often scarred by shark and lamprey bites.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, whales were commercially hunted for their meat and blubber, leading to the decimation of their population, which is now designated as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.