Dead, endangered fin whale likely impaled by cargo ship

TACOMA, Wash. — A dead, 50-foot-long fin whale floated in Tacoma’s Commencement Bay on Friday.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife told KIRO 7 News the endangered whale is a “fresh kill.” A captain of a cargo ship reported the whale was impaled on the bow of his ship.

>> See photos of the whale here 

Bows of cargo ships have spear-like protrusions underwater that likely impaled the whale and killed it, according to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

The whale became dislodged from the ship and floated toward the Blair Waterway. Researchers are trying to arrange a tow to move the whale somewhere for a necropsy.

Pacific Whale Watch Association crews spotted a fin whale near the Dungeness Spit last summer. It was the second confirmed sighting of the species since 1930 in Washington waters.

Fin whales are the second largest creatures to ever roam the earth, only behind the blue whale.

They reach 85 feet and 75 tons and live up to 90 years.

>> Related: Endangered fin whale spotted off Washington

Listed as an Endangered Species in the United States, they once were common in the Salish Sea. Researchers say they were driven out of the Puget Sound—nearly wiped out by hunters—along with the humpback whales.

Cox Media Group