Yet another whale was impaled on the bulbous bow of the Sapphire Princess. You may recall last year the same ship impaled a fin whale and dragged it into Vancouver Harbor.  Last week, the same ship impaled a humpback whale. The 43 foot female whale was “noticed” while the ship was cruising through Tracy Arm. The whale was removed in Juneau.

Though every effort is made to avoid whales, they are hard to detect. Despite their size they do not appear on radar; ships rely on deck hands to watch for whales in the area. It is standard procedure to slow down and/or alter course.

Marine researchers and conservationists are becoming increasingly more concerned about the recent number of “whale strikes.” Mark Simmonds, Director of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, speculates that with increased ocean traffic the sea is becoming noisier making it more difficult for whales to detect ships. He also believes that ships travel faster now which leaves whales resting near the surface at particular risk. 

Recently while cruising out of Sitka Sound I was asked to refrain from using phrases like, “There is a whale dead ahead,” or, “There is a whale directly off the bow” as such vague statements – without mention of exact distance - captured on the voice recorder on the bridge could be used against the ship were a whale to be found dead or injured – even if the injury was not caused by our ship. Ships suspected of being involved in a whale strike are being prosecuted. In 2007, Princess paid a $750,000 fine in relation to a dead whale found outside of Glacier Bay. With the incident last week this issue will no doubt become more and more important here in Alaska.