<p>VANCOUVER - A whale that rode into Vancouver's downtown harbour impaled on the bow of a cruise ship was dead before the Sapphire Princess struck it somewhere between Alaska and Vancouver.</p>
<p>Scientists determined by the "red-orange coloration" of the fin whale's skin and the lack of bleeding that it wasn't killed on impact.</p>
<p>"The necropsy indicated the animal had been dead five to seven days," said Paul Cottrell of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.</p>
<p>The whale remained on the bow of the ship for most of the day on July 25, in full view of tourists in the area.</p>
<p>The 17.3-metre whale, a pre-adult female, weighed about 40 tonnes and may have been sick before death, scientists said, noting that its "general body condition was poor, indicating the animal was emaciated."</p>
<p>It wasn't determined how the whale died or whether it was picked up in American or Canadian waters.</p>
<p>The animal was towed out to sea, courtesy of Princess Cruises, off the west coast of Vancouver Island, where it will provide a "smorgasbord" for other marine life, Cottrell said.</p>
<p>Cottrell noted such collisions are uncommon and this was only the second one in 10 years.</p>
<p>Some fin whale populations are endangered.</p>