Fin whale that washed ashore was hit, killed by ship, scientists say

A 56-foot fin whale that washed ashore in Northwest Washington died when it was struck by a ship, scientists said Wednesday.

"That was fairly unequivocal," said John Calambokidis of Cascadia Research, who led the team that examined the whale Tuesday. The carcass is on Lummi Tribe land that is closed to the public.

Fin whales, an endangered species, are at particular risk from ship strikes because of their size and feeding habits that bring them close to the surface, Calambokidis said. The whales rarely venture into inland waters, and a ship strike was the first guess by the region's marine-mammal experts.

The whale washed ashore Sunday at the Lummi Reservation about 80 miles north of Seattle.

A necropsy found external and internal injuries on the animal's right side, Calambokidis said in a telephone interview from his Olympia office.

"There's a lot of hemorrhaging inside the body, a lot of blood in there," Merle Jefferson, director of the Lummi Indian Business Council's natural-resources department, told the Bellingham Herald.

The whale was an immature male, 4 or 5 years old, Calambokidis said. Little is known about the species, and samples taken Tuesday will offer information about the animal's overall condition and the biology of fin whales, he said.

The dead whale could have been struck in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, he said. "But it's more likely to have occurred off the Washington coast or the entrance to the strait."

In 2002, three fin whales were recovered in Puget Sound after ship strikes. Two came in draped across the vessels' bows.

Fins are the second-largest animal that ever lived, he said, reaching lengths of nearly 90 feet. Blue whales are the largest at nearly 100 feet.

The Lummis plan to keep the bones and baleen — bony mouth plates used to strain tiny edible creatures from the sea.