With cleaner water pouring into New York Harbor, and a generally improved coastline ecosystem filled with delicious menhaden, humpback whales are hanging out near the city, feasting, and generally just getting wild.
Gotham Whales, a research and advocacy group based in Staten Island that tracks and analyzes sightings of humpback whales in the waters near New York City, has been posting photos and video from a spectacular whale-watching year, with whales and dolphins popping up near whale-watching ships, silhouetted by the city’s skyline in the background.
Our sighting reports don’t just come from our naturalists or vessel partners, many of our contributions come from #CitizenScientists just like you! Learn more about how you can help our research: https://t.co/4X26NuiazQ Special thanks to Brian Doherty for this #CitSci sighting pic.twitter.com/x8hf5HDN7Q
NINE. 9. nine. So many whales saying it once doesn’t seem like enough! Breaching whales and whales swimming in tandem and whales interacting with dolphins. All of this with sights of NYC & the harbor in the background. Amazing day to say the least. pic.twitter.com/YLnEDEpB4G
While it isn’t rare for humpback whales to be near the city, their population has been on the rise, and what was once a lucky occurrence during summer months is becoming a given—if you’re on a boat in the New York Bight, you’ll likely see a whale in the ocean near New York Harbor, perhaps even casually leaping into the air. A recent study published with the data collected by Gotham Whales shows that the animals are hanging around the city longer in the summertime—their average trip is now a little more than 37 days—likely because there's more food here.
Whales are almost certainly having more fun than the much-maligned shark (in search of the very same feeding grounds and improved water quality as the whales), who is the target of beach closures, helicopter patrols, and wrestling matches.
(It's not like other mammals looking for fun in the water are having a good time abroad, either—RIP Freya.)
So swim on, humpbacks! You might be the only ones actually enjoying life. And it clearly doesn’t hurt to be 60,000 pounds, because, c’mon, who’s going to try to stop you? The blade of a container ship? An industrial fishing net? A sandbar? They can try!
Max Rivlin-Nadler is a co-publisher of Hell Gate. He's reported for Gothamist, The New York Times, Village Voice and NPR. You can find him walking his dog, Stiva, or surfing in the Rockaways.