By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-27 23:21:21 | Updated at 2024-11-28 01:28:32
2 hours ago
The humpback spotted splashing in the East River earlier this week has seemingly left the busy channel as quickly as it came — but not without leaving a whale-sized mark on the Big Apple.
The US Coast Guard issued a stark warning for boaters to pull back their speeds and leave the cetacean alone, even as some New Yorkers eagerly flocked to the waterfront to catch sight of the beautiful beast.
Chris St. Lawrence was in class at New York University when the 3:45 p.m. alert came through that the whale had kicked its flukes above the surface just below the Brooklyn Bridge.
By the time he made it to East River Park — with binoculars conveniently already stowed in his backpack — darkness had fallen and the humpback had slipped out to deeper waters.
“I’ve heard stories of these whales in the past that have wandered into the East River, into the Hudson River, into the harbor, and that’s always been something that I thought would be really amazing to see in person and to get a photo of. And so, I was chasing that dream,” explained St. Lawrence, 21, the communications lead at south Brooklyn research center Gotham Whale.
“It’s not out of the ordinary to see a whale in New York City. It’s crazy to see it in the East River.”
Not ready to give up the dream, the master’s student studying Environmental Conservation Education returned the following morning and spent up to three hours hunkered down on Governors Island, where the whale was also reported to be passing through.
St. Lawrence was in communication with other hopefuls stationed as far up as Williamsburg, but all that was spotted was circling birds. But the birds served as a strong indicator there was plenty of fish nearby to draw in the massive, hungry humpback.
“As long as there’s food. For better and worse, they don’t always seem bothered by boats. As long as there’s enough fish there to keep them happy, they’ll stick around,” St. Lawrence said.
Young Williamsburg resident Jocelynn Loebl, 11, also missed her chance to see the aquatic beast — and raised concerns that it might run into danger in the high-trafficked waterway.
“In this particular water you have the passenger ferries and the circle line so I’m worried about it. The boats come all day long over here. Not only that, you have cargo ships,” Loebl told The Post.
“I’m hoping it’s safe wherever it is and people leave it alone. I don’t want to see it washed up on the shore somewhere.”
The youngster visits the Domino Park Dog Run — steps from where the lone picture of the humpback was snapped — up to three times a day and hopes to keep an eye out for the whale if it’s not too late.
According to both the US Coast Guard and Gotham Whale, there have been no other sightings of the whale since its surfaced Monday.
The sighting marks the first recorded whale visit to the East River since 2022, and although it’s not completely out of the ordinary for it to wander to the channel, it is notably 40 miles from the whale’s typical feeding grounds along Rockaway Beach — where sightings are so common that whale tours circle the coastline daily.
It triggered the USCG to issue a boating safety information broadcast, which warns boaters to heavily reduce their speeds and proceed with caution in the area. The last broadcast ran Monday, a spokesperson told The Post.
There were no reports of vessel traffic impediments connected to the whale’s visit, including the NYC Ferry, which almost constantly ping-pongs between Queens and Brooklyn.
“NYC Ferry maintains safe and efficient operations for both our passengers and other users of New York City’s waterways, including other vessels and visiting marine life such as whales,” a spokesperson for the group said. “Our crew is expertly trained to safely navigate New York Harbor and we welcome the visiting whale to our shared waterways.”
Danielle Brown, Gotham Whale’s director of research, theorized the whale braved the heavy traffic of the East River to hunt down a meal in the channel, where Atlantic menhaden, a favorite snack for humpbacks, is known to flourish.
“The whales will follow fish wherever they need to go. So sometimes that does mean heading north into the river, and it does seem to happen this time of year,” she told The Post Tuesday, estimating that the humpback was likely a juvenile between 25 and 35 feet long.
Just because the whale has been quiet over the last few days doesn’t mean hope is lost for another sighting — juveniles historically spent several days exploiting the marine cuisine of the Harbor before moving back out to deeper waters.
