March 9 (UPI) -- At least 80 people were injured Saturday after a jetfoil ferry may have hit a whale in the Sea of Japan.
The Japanese Coast Guard said 13 people had serious injuries out of the 80 hurt in the collision off Sado Island.
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![Eighty people were injured Saturday, 13 seriously, after a ferry collision in Japan. Sea of Japan Map.png: Chris 73derivative work: Phoenix7777 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]](https://cdnph.upi.com/svc/sv/i/1251552149493/2019/1/15521517977599/Japan-ferry-collision-injures-80-whale-may-be-to-blame.jpg "Eighty people were injured Saturday, 13 seriously, after a ferry collision in Japan. Sea of Japan Map.png: Chris 73derivative work: Phoenix7777 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]")
Eighty people were injured Saturday, 13 seriously, after a ferry collision in Japan. Sea of Japan Map.png: Chris 73derivative work: Phoenix7777 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
The ship was carrying 121 passengers.
The collision did not prevent the ferry from reaching its destination on Sado Island Saturday afternoon with a crack at the stern, according to a ferry operator.
Coast guard officials said there was about a 6-inch crack in the stern and the hydrofoil wing was bent.
Officials are still investigating the incident's cause, but they said the ferry may have hit a whale.
Shinichiro Ikeguchi, vice director of the municipal aquarium in Niigata Prefecture, said mink and humpback whales are migrating through the sea and the impact's scale suggests the boat hit a whale.
