Dead Whale Found Stuck on Cruise Ship

Researchers want to know what killed a rare whale found lodged on the bow of an Alaskan cruise ship docked in Vancouver. It took two tug boats to remove the impaled 70-ton middle-aged fin whale from the Sapphire Princess' bow, reports the Vancouver Sun. Tourists gathered to watch the gruesome spectacle.

A necropsy on the fin whale, a threatened species, will likely determine the cause of death. “We don't know a lot about fin whales. They’re called the greyhounds of the sea because they’re quick,” said a marine mammal expert. A burial at sea is planned.


(More threatened species stories.)