An Australian destroyer arrived in San Diego with 2 dead endangered whales stuck to its hull

[SunSeeker]

Two dead endangered whales were dislodged from the hull of an Australian destroyer after the warship docked in San Diego last weekend, according to the Royal Australian Navy.

"The Navy takes marine mammal safety seriously and is disheartened this incident occurred," a statement from the Australian navy said. The Australian and US navies -- along with the US NOAA Fisheries, which oversees marine resources -- were investigating, the statement said.

CNN affiliate 10News in San Diego reported the dead mammals were fin whales, the world's second-largest whale species, behind only blue whales. One was 65 feet (about 20 meters) long and the other about 25 feet (7.6 meters), the report said.

A NOAA Fisheries fact sheet on fin whales lists them as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, with a population of about 3,200 off the US West Coast. The whales were once hunted extensively, but today their biggest threat is being struck by a ship, the fact sheet says.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/12/australia/australia-destroyer-whales-san-diego-intl-hnk-scli-ml/index.html



Looks like it was a mom and her baby. I bet she tried to protect it with her body.

[niyad]

1. How utterly sad.

[ArizonaLib]

2. How many go unreported to the media?

Sad that during peace time they are not more of a priority. What are they going to do about this, seeing as how the public relations statement was that they take these seriously?

[SunSeeker]

3. Problem is San Diego is such a busy port that the ship warning sounds don't work.

The ships are supposed to emit a sound that warns the whales the ship is coming. But when a harbor area is full of ships and they're all emitting various sounds, it's very disorienting for the whales.

[Raine]

4. Reading this literally makes me cry 😢

it's just so awful! 🐋