Rare whale hit by Princess cruise ship may have been sick

mercedes · July 28, 2009

The rare whale hit by a Princess cruise ship over the weekend had no food in its stomach, indicating it may have been sick before dying, the Vancouver Sun reports.

The news outlet says a seven-hour necropsy performed Monday on the giant mammal -- a 70-foot-long fin whale -- also shows it had a thin layer of blubber.

In an incident that made headlines around the world, the 2,670-passenger Sapphire Princess pulled into Vancouver's bustling harbor Saturday with the whale pinned to its bow. The ship had just returned from a week-long Alaska cruise along the scenic Inside Passage -- a coastal route known for its rich wildlife.

The Sun notes the preliminary results of the necropsy don't reveal if the whale was alive when hit, and it could take several weeks of testing before scientists know for sure how and why the animal died.

The thin layer of blubber found on the whale, a female, could be a sign of ill health or the result of nutrients lost when it was producing calves, the news outlet adds.

While whale strikes by cruise ships are relatively rare, they have played a notable role in the debate over cruise tourism to Alaska. Carnival Chairman and CEO Micky Arison noted last month during a press conference that a whale strike in 2006 was a deciding factor in Alaska's landmark vote to add a $50-per-person tax on cruisers.

As Arison noted, the Celebrity Summit pulled into Seward, Alaska with a dead humpback whale pinned to its bow just days before the statewide vote. The incident helped sway public opinion against the cruise industry.