Grab those binoculars, New Yorkers, because it’s time for some whale watching.
A whale was spotted in the East River on Monday near the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, flashing its tail out of the water just close enough for people on the Brooklyn shore to get a peek, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which received multiple reports of the underwater mammal.
Though some social media users said it appeared to be a Humpback whale, Coast Guard spokesperson Logan Kaczmarek said the agency wasn’t sure whether it was a Humpback or a North Atlantic Right Whale, one of the world’s most endangered whale species. Still, Kaczmarek said a whale sighting in the East River is special because the usual boat traffic makes it hard to spot aquatic wildlife.
As the reports from community members came on Monday, the Coast Guard put out a marine information broadcast to warn boaters to be cautious, so they would not collide with the whale, according to Kaczmarek.
“We do get a lot of marine mammals in the New York Harbor,” he said. “It’s not rare by any means, but the sightings are less frequent.”
Anywhere from 40 to 80 whale sightings are reported in the New York area every year, especially during the animals’ busy fall and spring migratory seasons, the spokesperson added. With the fall migratory season coming to an end, though, he said it’s hard to know exactly what Monday’s whale was up to.
“I have no clue where that whale specifically was going,” Kaczmarek said. “This one is on a mission to do something.”
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