Dead whale found on bow of cruise ship entering Alaska port

A veterinary pathologist worked Monday todetermine what killed a juvenile fin whale discovered on the bow ofa cruise ship entering an Alaska port.

The cause of death was not immediately apparent for theendangered whale spotted just after 5 a.m. Sunday on the bulbous bowof the Zaandam, a Holland America Line cruise ship, as it preparedto dock in Seward.

The carcass was towed to a beach near Seward, a spokeswoman forthe fisheries section of the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration, Julie Speegle, said Monday.

The veterinary pathologist, Kathy Burek, began a necropsy Sundaynight and planned to continue Monday, with armed NOAA Fisheries lawenforcement officers standing guard against bears, Speegle said.

Could have been already dead

The bulbous bow is an extension of the main bow. It rides underthe water and is designed to avoid wave-making.

A whale on the bulbous bow may not be the result of a shipstrike, Speegle said. It could have been already dead in the waterand caught by the device.

"That's something, hopefully, the necropsy will determine,"Speegle said.

The whale was not seen on the bulbous bow a half-hour earlier,Sally Andrews, a spokeswoman for Holland America, said in an email.

An officer had been preparing the ship for arrival just after 4:30a.m. and did not see a whale, she said.

The company is saddened by the event, Andrews said. HollandAmerica has a comprehensive program to avoid striking whales and wasnot aware of whales in the area.

"Our ships have clear guidelines on how to operate if whales aresighted nearby, which include altering course and reducing speed asrequired," she said.

Fin whales found dead near Kodiak Island last year

Fin whales feed on schooling fish and invertebrates by gulpinglarge swarms of them while swimming on their sides, according to theAlaska Department of Fish and Game.

Fin whales were decimated by commercial whalers in the 1800s andearly 1900s. The average adult male is 21 metreslong and 40tonnes.

Adult females average 22 metresand 40tonnes.

The dead male juvenile was considerably smaller, but Speegle didnot have its dimensions.

Last year 10 fin whales were among 18 endangered whales whosecarcasses were found floating near Alaska's Kodiak Island betweenMemorial Day Weekend and early July. The others were humpbackwhales.

Scientists speculated that the animals might have eaten somethingtoxic in warmer-than-average water. That investigation was hamperedbecause some of the whales had significantly decomposed before theywere found.

The dead whale found on the cruise ship will be tested, Speeglesaid. "We are taking samples for harmful algal blooms," she said.