This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: "WHALE AT ONE O'CLOCK!" Eager cruise passengers zipping around New York's southern shores rush to the starboard bow: A humpback whale is up for air, a breathtaking sighting set against Manhattan's iconic skyline. Such scenes are no longer uncommon in the city's waterways, sparking excitement for animal lovers but also forcing new policy efforts to protect whales venturing into one of the busiest port regions in the United States.
Once hunted to near extinction, the rebound of humpback whales is considered among the conservation movement's greatest success stories. And a growing cohort of mostly juvenile humpbacks are thriving off New York's coast, where food is now plentiful. "People fly to different parts of the world to go on safari, and what I think a lot of people don't realize is that the marine safari is right out here," said Carl LoBue, New York oceans director at The Nature Conservancy.
The marine scientist, who grew up on nearby Long Island, told that in the past, whale sightings were an "incredibly unusual event." LoBue now spots the marine mammals basically every time he's out on the water. He generally sees humpbacks but sometimes other species, including the still critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. The new normal is "spectacular," he said.
"I never thought that I would see whales like this off the coast of New York." Humpbacks were once mainly migratory visitors, traversing the New York Bight—the marine region that extends off the city, Long Island and New Jersey—while traveling between foraging grounds farther north and breeding areas in the Caribbean. But more recently, a confluence of factors has made New York's coast less of a highway and more of a stomping ground. One is the resurgence of whale populations thanks to government action, including the Endangered Species Act, as well as a cleaner habitat supported by air and water protections.
Another is the existence of relatively new statutes that support growing schools of Atlantic menhaden, an oily fish with a variety of industrial uses like commercial bait and omega-3 supplements. It is also a staple for whales, dolphins and seabirds. Humpbacks, which can grow to the size of a large city bus, can feast on some 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) of fish a day.
Climate change also plays a role in the surge of New York-area whale sightings. Warming waters are affecting bait fish distributions, encouraging whales to stray from tradition to find food, said Chris St. Lawrence, a naturalist who conducts whale-watching tours and also works for Gotham Whale, a marine research organization that tracks whales in the Bight.
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