NEW YORK — Whale watch captains and scientists around America’s most populous city say that in recent years, there has been a tremendous surge in the number of whales observed in the waters around the Big Apple. Many of the whales are young humpbacks, and scientists say they’re drawn to New York by an abundance of the small fish they love to eat.
There are numerous theories about why whales are suddenly flocking to the city, but one of the most widely held is that the menhaden population has grown around New York and New Jersey. Menhaden are small, schooling fish that humpbacks relish, and environmentalists believe cleaner waters and stricter conservation laws have increased their numbers near New York City.
Gotham Whale, a New York City whale research organization, made more than 300 observations of 500 whales in 2019, said Paul Sieswerda, the nonprofit’s president. That’s up from three sightings of five whales in 2011, after which a steady climb began, he said.
“Somehow or other more and more whales seem to be getting the message that New York is a good place to dine,” Sieswerda said. “That kind of magnitude of increase is just phenomenal.”
The resurgence of whales in the New York-New Jersey Bight, a triangle-shaped indentation in the Atlantic coast, has attracted tourists who want to see and photograph the giant marine mammals. But the concentration of whales near New York City also poses risks to the mammals, as they ply some of the most heavily traversed waters on the planet.
The whales are essentially “playing in traffic” by feeding so close to busy shipping lanes, Sieswerda said. And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already declared an “unusual mortality event” for humpback whales from Maine to Florida in recent years.