Update: Necropsy Reveals How Whale Found In Brooklyn Died
Image: Eddie Lopez
Earlier this week, we shared the very, very sad news that a whale had washed ashore in Brooklyn, possibly dying shortly afterwards.
Now, we know exactly how our poor mammalian friend died: The Riverhead Foundation revealed yesterday that blunt force trauma and broken ribs were the cause of death and that the whale, now determined to be a 45-foot female sei whale, was most likely struck by a cruise ship on Sunday.
According to the Post, the whale’s death was connected with another big story from earlier this week wherein 4,500 passengers on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship were stranded in the Hudson River. Somewhere in between the ship arriving in New York and its getting stranded because of “steering and propulsion problems,” it hit the whale. It’s not clear whether the whale was dead or alive when the ship struck it or whether the above “problems” were used to cover up the accident.
Once the investigation is complete, the whale’s carcass will be transferred to a local landfill.
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