Courtesy Stewart Archibald This whale was found on the bow
of the Jewel of the Seas when she docked in Saint John Sunday morning.

COLLISION AT SEA
Whale caught on ship's bow
20-metre mammal believed to be finback

By MIKE MULLEN
Telegraph-Journal
September 27/04

    Cruise ship visitors on board of the jewel of the Seas when she berthed in Saint John early Sunday morning will have a tale to tell when they get home.
   A dead 20-metre whale was discovered impaled on the ship's bow.
   Not even the crew of the Royal Caribbean vessel was aware of the mishap, said Bruce Fiander of the Canadian Coast Guard's Fundy Traffic Operations Centre, until the 925-metre vessel came alongside Pugsley Wharf.
   He said the ship's crew and the officers in a small utility boat, dispatched to help tie up the vessel, spotted the whale at about the same time.
   "It's not a right whale," he asssured those who worry about the endangered species. "That's the biggest concern people had because there are so few in number. "
   Mr. Fiander said it's believed to have been a finback whale.
   Fellow marine communications officer Stewart Archibald managed to snap several pictures of the silvery white whale before it was towed out to sea by the Coast Guard vessel Cumella.

Courtesy Stewart Archibald The finback whale can be seen right at the bow of the Jewel of the Seas.

   "I don't know where they're taking it," Mr. Fiander said at midafternoon. "All I know it that it is still under tow as we speak. "
   The Jewel of the Seas was making only its second visit to the Port of Saint John.
   On its maiden visit, Sept. 16, the 2,500passenger, German-built vessel became the first cruise ship to dock at Long Wharf due to a doublecruise ship day. It will also dock there during a double-cruise ship day on Oct. 6.
   The half-billion dollar, 13-deck beauty is captained by Saint John native James MacDonald.

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