the whale it was that died...

Much interest in the recent Whale VS Cruise ship fatality (the whale it was that died) and more than a bit of finger pointing.

Fact is that according to the World Wildlife Fund 90% of whales that die due to unnatural causes are ship whale collisions. I've heard of various ways that these numbers could be cut but almost all involve ships installing stuff that costs money and that would cut into profits so I expect that whales being run down by ships is going to be an ongoing thing... If you'd like to keep score NOAA keeps a Whale Ship Strike Database.

The cruise ship companies know a little something about profit and the sucking of money in the piratical sense so if anyone ever gets around to installing anti-whale strike systems on boats I'd wager my bottom dollar the cruise ships will be the last one to the party (kicking and screaming all the way).

Since we were going into rantish mode and the subject was cruise ships you might want to take a look at "Cruise Ship Blues" and "Cruise Ship Squeeze: The New Pirates of the Seven Seas" which paint sadly accurate and scary pictures of the cruise ship industry.