Cruise ship 'kills 30ft whale' in New York Harbour
A 30ft whale found dead in New York Harbour could have been killed after colliding with a cruise ship.
The 45-year-old female whale is thought to have crashed into a Norwegian Cruise Line ship that was stalled in the Hudson River on the Brooklyn side of New York Harbour for hours on Sunday.
Robert DiGiovanni Jr, executive director of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, told the NY Daily News: "We found evidence of blunt-force trauma with broken ribs and bruising throughout the muscles on the right side."
But the necropsy could not pinpoint the exact cause of death.
The Sei whale was found floating belly-up in the harbour, just off Brooklyn's Sunset Park shoreline, on Monday.
The Breakaway cruise ship had returned from a Caribbean cruise when it stalled in the harbour.
It had to be towed to Pier 88 on West 48th Street after a mechanical problem caused it to stall in the Hudson River.
It is unclear whether the whale died from being hit by the ship, or whether it was dead prior to the collision.
AnneMarie Mathews, a spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line, said the cruise ship's delay on Sunday was not related to the whale strike.
She told NBC New York: "We take every precaution to avoid marine life and were saddened by the recent discovery."
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