Adult female humpback found on bow of ship owned by Princess Cruises – the third whale incident involving the firm since 2001

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

A dead whale has been found pinned to the bow of a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska, the third such incident in a decade.

The whale was removed from a Princess Cruises ship on Wednesday afternoon, having apparently become lodged on the bulbous bow that morning.

The unfortunate whale, believed to be an adult female humpback measuring 13m (43ft) in length, was found at around 8am on Wednesday, as the Sapphire Princess ship travelled from Ketchikan to Juneau in Alaska.

The Sapphire Princess then stopped south of Douglas Island until the carcass could be removedon Wednesday afternoon. The bow protrudes from the bowline of large ships just below the waterline. It is designed to reduce drag, increasing speed and stability.

Biologists will conduct a necropsy today to try to determine the cause of death, according to local news channel KTUU.

Humpback whales are protected under the US endangered species act and the marine mammal act, although it is unclear whether any legal action would be taken. A spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it was possible the whale was already dead before becoming pinned to the bow.

Last year, the same ship was discovered to have a dead fin whale – which, like humpbacks, are classified as endangered – pinned to its bow when it returned to Vancouver.

In 2007, the firm paid $750,000 (£480,000) to settle a criminal charge related to a dead whale found just outside Glacier Bay, Alaska in 2001. The dead whale, a pregnant humpback, was found to have had its skull crushed.

Although Princess did not admit in the settlement to striking the whale, the company pleaded guilty to failing to operate one of its vessels, the Dawn Princess, at a safe speed around whales.

In a statement released yesterday, Princess said it was "fully co-operating" with the investigation into the incident near Tracy Arm fjord, south of Juneau.