NOAA: Dead Whale Was Hit by a Ship

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The 41-foot-whale found floating in the Port of Tampa last weekend was killed by a ship out in the Gulf of Mexico.

That was the word Tuesday from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which performed a necropsy.

NOAA's Blair Mase said the wounds on the female Bryde's whale indicate that it was killed by a ship and carried into port, draped across the freighter's bow. He said it was "a clear-cut case of a ship strike."

The animal was found floating in Tampa Bay Sunday morning. It was towed to Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg, where it was buried Monday.