Whale found on bow of oil tanker

An oil tanker struck an endangered humpback whale and carried it on its bow into Port Valdez.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spokeswoman Sheila McLean says crewmen June 1 on an escort vessel spotted the 40- to 50-foot whale on the bow of the tanker Kodiak as it docked.

Valdez residents say they can’t remember a similar incident in the 30 years that tankers have been pulling in to pick up oil from the trans-Alaska pipeline.

Officials say they don’t know if the whale was alive when it was struck by the ship.

Federal officials say it would be too expensive to send a team to determine how and when the whale died. They plan to tow the carcass to sea and sink it.

—The Associated Press