Whale killed by Cruise Ship

[CowPrincess]

So they initially blamed the wrong ship?

 

There are two incidents being mentioned in this thread:

 

1. The recent event in 2015 which was not attributed to any ship until the Seven Seas Navigator was named yesterday.

 

2. An event in 2009 which was referenced in order to provide a visual of how the current event may have happened. The Princess incident was in 2009.

[Boytjie]

They still don't know if the whale was dead or alive when it got stuck on the bulbous bow of the ship.

 

"It's not known if the whale was dead or alive when it was struck by the Seven Seas Navigator, said John Ford, a marine mammal scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans"

 

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Dead+whale+dragged+into+Burrard+Inlet+cruise+ship/11046854/story.html

[G&G]

Of course this is completely avoidable. A cruise ship is a pleasure craft that does not need to be sailing in those waters. This is another example of the environmental harm caused by cruise ships.

 

We were on a HAL ship ten (10) years ago through the Panama Canal. We docked just outside the Canal and there was a dead whale laying across the bulbous. Are you suggesting cruise ships should not sail through the Canal.

 

The Captain announced that the whale was probably sick and that HAL was denoting several thousand dollars to a save the whale society.

[cbr663]

We were on a HAL ship ten (10) years ago through the Panama Canal. We docked just outside the Canal and there was a dead whale laying across the bulbous. Are you suggesting cruise ships should not sail through the Canal.

 

The Captain announced that the whale was probably sick and that HAL was denoting several thousand dollars to a save the whale society.

 

I have to wonder what the Captain's goal was announcing that the whale was probably sick. The Captain had no way of knowing this upon discovery of the whale. Did he want the passengers to believe that it was the whale's fault? Did he want the passengers to believe that he did the humane thing and put a sick whale out of its misery? Nothing but PR rubbish, IMO.

[Lizzie68]

I have to wonder what the Captain's goal was announcing that the whale was probably sick. The Captain had no way of knowing this upon discovery of the whale. Did he want the passengers to believe that it was the whale's fault? Did he want the passengers to believe that he did the humane thing and put a sick whale out of its misery? Nothing but PR rubbish, IMO.

 

He could have been advised by someone who studies whale behaviour - that was the thought when the whale in Vancouver was first spotted. Often if a whale is sick - or already dead - it cannot avoid the ship. And I do think the cruise ship captains have some extra insight into whale behaviour, which is why they avoid pods and go much slower in those areas.

[Aquahound]

I have to wonder what the Captain's goal was announcing that the whale was probably sick. The Captain had no way of knowing this upon discovery of the whale. Did he want the passengers to believe that it was the whale's fault? Did he want the passengers to believe that he did the humane thing and put a sick whale out of its misery? Nothing but PR rubbish, IMO.

 

Or could it be that he has far more experience at sea than you and he might actually know something about whale behavior?

[Copper10-8]

Unfortunately, there is a downside to using the so called bulbous bow on ships (either cruise or other merchant ships) which reduce the ships drag through the water and that makes them more (fuel) efficient.

 

The downside is that the bulbous bow makes them more silent through the water also, which makes them harder to spot for sea life and harder to avoid.

 

Goes for naval ships also ;)

[cl.klink]

Is it possible the whale just died because it was really old or very sick? :confused:

 

Gosh, HAL & Princess ships go so very slowly when whales are around. Seems a healthy whale would easily have been able to avoid the ship. :confused:

 

LuLu

 

I wondered the same thing. Hard to believe that a regular healthy wale would be killed this way. They are so adept at moving around in their environment and the ships are slow moving easy to detect things lumbering through the water. If an animal was already infirmed, that would make more sense.

 

- Joel