Collision With Tanker Ship Kills Massive Whale; Gets Dragged On Its Bow To Japan

In an unfortunate incident, a 39-foot-long whale was found dead on a tanker ship’s bow. The whale has been crushed by the vessel and dragged all along the Pacific Ocean to Japan. Per DailyMail’s report, the locals informed the coastguard about the incident after they saw the carcass at the port of Mizushima in Kurashiki.

Citing Yomiuri, a local news channel, it was reported that the crew was clueless about when the ship had hit the whale. The locals reportedly said that they had not witnessed a similar incident ever before.

A fisherman who had observed the vessel approaching the yard said that he has been living in that area for eight decades but had never seen a whale before.

Per DailyMail’s report, a Mizushima Coast Guard Department spokesperson said that they had never experienced a similar incident before. The investigation is underway. Strict measures are being enforced so that such an incident does not recur. According to the director of the Resources and Biology Division of the same institute, the whale appeared to belong to the Rorqual family to which Fin Whales belong.

Even though the species of the whale remains unidentified, the Institute of Cetacean Research is presuming that it is a 27.3 meter long Fin Whale. A Fin Whale is the second-largest mammal after the Blue Whale and can be found in all the oceans of the world. Per the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the fin whale is a vulnerable species.

Reference: news18.com