Cargo Ship Said Probably Killed Sei Whale

BALTIMORE – A cargo ship probably struck and killed an endangered whale and then dragged it into the Patapsco River, a state wildlife official said.

The 35-foot long, 17,000-pound male sei whale was found Monday, wrapped around the bow of the 800-foot container ship MSC Johannesburg.

The whale had broken bones and internal injuries, indicating it was killed by the ship, which sailed from Boston to Baltimore this week, said Cindy Driscoll, director of fish and wildlife health programs at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Sei whales are an endangered species. They usually travel in deep areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and they are not typically found in Maryland’s part of the Chesapeake Bay.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is considering speed limits for large ships to protect whales off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, near Boston and outside other ports, because of the increasing number of reported collisions between whales and ships along the East Coast.

Forty-two ships reported striking whales along the Atlantic Coast from 2000 to 2004, and 21 of the accidents resulted in the confirmed deaths of whales, according to a NOAA study.

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On the Net:

Maryland Department of Natural Resources: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/sw-index-flash.asp

NOAA: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/mar-mammals.htm

Chamber of Shipping of America: http://www.knowships.org