A dead fin whale was found on a cruise ship\u2019s bow in Sitka, Alaska.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network team is responding to assess and determine next steps,\u201d NOAA Fisheries told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. The agency was notified on Sept. 17.<\/p>\n
NOAA Fisheries did not yet have additional details to share, and did not name the cruise ship involved.<\/p>\n
The incident is the second of its kind in recent months, after a cruise ship belonging to Royal Caribbean Group arrived in Seward, Alaska with a dead fin whale on its bow in June. \u201cPreliminary necropsy findings showed blunt force trauma to the jaw, spine, and ribs consistent with a vessel strike,\u201d the Alaska SeaLife Center said in a news release at the time.<\/p>\n
Fin whales are an endangered species named for a fin near their tails, according to NOAA Fisheries\u2019 website. Behind blue whales, they are the second-biggest whale species on the planet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhaling is no longer a threat for fin whales (commercial whaling ended in the 1970s and 1980s, though some subsistence hunting continues today in Greenland under sustainable quotas allowed by the International Whaling Commission),\u201d the agency said. \u201cCurrently, the major threat to this species comes from vessel strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n