Endangered whale discovered dead on cruise ship bow in Sitka

On Thursday, September 17, 2026, a cruise ship arrived in Sitka with a dead male fin whale on top of the ship’s bulbous bow. (Photo Courtesy of NOAA Fisheries Permit #24359)
Thousands of passengers disembarked the cruise ship Norwegian Joy as it finally pulled up to Sitka’s dock on Thursday morning, three hours after its scheduled arrival.
“There was an announcement this morning from the captain just saying that there’s an issue with a whale at the front of the ship, and