News ToolsNecropsy underway for whale struck by ship
Rosemarie Alexander
Image by NOAA
Whale undergoing examination
They’re trying to determine if the whale died from the blow, or was injured, or dead, before the Sapphire Princess struck.
The carcass was removed Wednesday from the ship’s bulbous bow and beached on the backside of Douglas Island in a spot suitable for the necropsy.
NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle says a team of marine mammal biologists took preliminary samples Thursday in preparation for today’s necropsy. They also measured the whale.
Initial observations indicated the whale was a juvenile humpback, but it turned out to be much bigger. Female humpbacks generally measure between 35 and 45 feet in length.
Speegle says NOAA Law Enforcement officers also have begun their investigation and have a good idea now as to when the Sapphire Princess hit the whale.
"According to Princess Cruises, in their logbooks, the ship had to increase power at 1:30 a.m. to maintain speed and they’re thinking that might possibly be the point at which they connected with the whale in Chatham Strait," she says.
She says NOAA law enforcement team has interviewed the ship’s captain and some officers and is still in the process of gathering and reviewing evidence.
She says the necropsy team is led by veterinarians from NOAA Fisheries and the Alaska Sea Life Center.
The humpback whale was on the Sapphire Princess' bow as it sailed toward Juneau.
Image courtesy NOAA/NMFS
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