44-Ft Whale Speared By Cruise Ship Bow Sails Into NYC Port

NEW YORK CITY — A cruise ship sailed into New York City with a tragic stowaway: a dead endangered whale.

The 44-foot-long sei whale carcass had been speared by the cruise ship's bow and spotted May 4 in the Port of Brooklyn in Red Hook, federal officials said.

The dead cetacean was towed to shore in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, where experts collected it for a Tuesday necropsy.

Whether the whale died in a reverse narwhal situation with the cruise ship, or the boat haplessly ran into an already dead sea creature will be determined by the samples, officials said.

"The samples collected will help biologists determine if the vessel interaction occurred pre or post mortem," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries New England/Mid-Atlantic's Facebook page posted.

Sei whales typically are spotted in deeper water far from the coastline, according to the post.

Other types of whales have become an increasingly common sight in and near New York City's waters.

Humpback songs are commonly heard underwater near the city, and those whales themselves have been spotted hundreds of times in recent year.

Dolphins have also swam up the East River and frolicked in the Bronx River.

Carly Baldwin contributed to this report.