Fin whale struck by boat off New Hampshire

Whale watchers were horrified to watch another boat hit a fin whale they had just been watching on July 14 off the coast of New Hampshire, USA. The whale was swimming around Jeffrey’s Ledge when it was hit by a speed boat which sped over the area where the whale was surfacing. The vessel kept going and when the animal resurfaced it had large gashes down one side and blood coming out of the open wounds.

Harming an endangered species of whale is a violation of both the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, with fines of up to £23,000, along with imprisonment and/or seizure of the vessel. Jen Kennedy, Director of The Blue Ocean Society was onboard the whale watch vessel and managed to get images of the whale before and after the collision. She also got photos of the boat and its registration. The whale watch captain contacted the Marine Fisheries agency and Coast Guard immediately after the incident.

It was reported that the whale spouted at least nine times before the boat struck. A fin whale blow reaches over 20 foot in the air, so there is no excuse for this vessel not to have seen the whale. Unfortunately prime boating season also coincides with prime feeding season for the many species of whales that gather in the Gulf of Maine over the summer months.

Judith Scott, Marine Connections Campaigns Officer comments "Before joining Marine Connection I worked as a naturalist for a whale watching company. The area we took the passengers out to was Stellwagen Bank and Jeffrey’s Ledge. I have witnessed small private boats hitting whales and on hot summers days the whale watch boats would often be followed by a flotilla of private vessels out into the whale watching area because they knew we would find whales. Unfortunately this meant the whales were often surrounded by many small boats and we would often have to move away from the area to give the whales their space. Some private boat owners do not know how to operate around whales, and in particular fin whales who stay submerged for long periods and who can also travel great distances on a dive. Luckily fin whales are large animals, the second largest of all whale species, so this whale will hopefully survive its injuries”.

The Marine Connection hopes that the perpetrator is caught and faces appropriate actions for this crime.