On June 20, 2026, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas arrived at the port of Seward, Alaska with a 61-foot fin whale on its bow. The whale — a pregnant female six months into gestation — was dead. Preliminary findings from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show blunt force trauma to the jaw, spine, and ribs consistent with a vessel strike. She and her unborn calf never had a chance.

Fin whales are an endangered species. They are also among the fastest whales in the ocean — and they still cannot outrun a cruise ship at full speed. This was the second whale strike near Seward in a decade.

The solution already exists. In California, voluntary speed reductions to 10 knots in known whale habitat reduced strikes by 50% in 2021. Alaska has no such requirement. Marine ecologist Rick Steiner has called the cruise industry in Alaska waters "unregulated and recalcitrant" on the issue of speed reduction.

Two whales. Ten years. No rules.

We are calling on NOAA and the U.S. Congress to establish mandatory vessel speed reduction zones — 10 knots or less — in fin whale habitat corridors along Alaska's coast. The data is clear. The technology exists. What is missing is the political will to require it.

Sign this petition to demand mandatory speed limits for cruise ships in Alaska's whale waters — before another ship arrives in port with a whale on its bow.