A dead 30-foot whale found on the Brooklyn side of New York Harbor Monday morning is believed to have been struck by a cruise ship that was later disabled for several hours as it approached its Manhattan dock.
AnneMarie Mathews, a spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line, said Wednesday the cruise ship's delay on Sunday was not related to the whale strike.
"We take every precaution to avoid marine life and were saddened by the recent discovery," she said.
The 45-year-old whale was found near Pier 4 on Monday, and towed to the New Jersey side of the harbor. It was found during a necropsy Tuesday to have blunt force trauma and broken ribs.
The NOAA Fisheries Service said it's not known if the whale was killed by the ship or if it was already dead when it was hit. The ship then stalled for several hours in the Hudson River as it was preparing to dock in Manhattan.
The Coast Guard had to help tug the ship, which was returning from a seven-day Caribbean cruise, to Pier 88 on West 48th Street. The cause of the delay was a mechanical problem, Mathews said.
The 144,000-ton ship, called the Breakaway, accommodates more than 4,000 passengers, according to the cruise line.
