Whale on vessel's bow 'killed by ship strike'

The dead whale was lifted off the Cote d'Ivoirian Star in Portsmouth Harbour

A whale that was carried in to Portsmouth Harbour lodged on the bow of a cargo ship died from being hit by the vessel, experts have said.

A pilot boat spotted the dead whale on the Cote d'Ivoirian Star in the Solent on 30 December.

The Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) study found it was a juvenile male fin whale in "apparently good nutritional condition".

The 17m-long mammal had to be lifted off by crane for it being examined.

The Liberian-registered vessel had been travelling from Senegal when the whale was noticed on its approach to Portsmouth.

It was held off the Isle of Wight for several hours before being escorted into port.

The Cote d'Ivoirian Star had been on its way from Dakar in Senegal to Portsmouth

A statement from CSIP said the whale showed signs of recent feeding and no affects of disease, adding its injuries were consistent with being hit while alive.

"An extensive area of haemorrhage and oedema within the peritoneal wall and also over the thoracic region was consistent with the whale being struck by the vessel whilst alive and ship-strike is considered to be the most probable proximal cause of death,"

It said the data would be passed on to a global initiative run by the International Whaling Commission, in an effort to learn more about the issue of whales being struck by ships.

It is thought to have been the third ship strike case in UK waters in 2019, the CSIP said.

The whale was examined by specialists in Essex