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Warning issued as rare animal appears beneath Brooklyn Bridge, ‘Hoping that people are watching out…’
In an unexpected sighting, a rare animal was spotted beneath the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time in two years.
In an unexpected sighting, a humpback whale was spotted beneath the Brooklyn Bridge on Monday, November 25. This is the first time the species visited the East River in two years.
“It’s much, much more common to see them in the ocean along the coastline. We have only had rare cases of them moving into the river, but it does happen,” Danielle Brown, Gotham Whale’s director of research, told New York Post.
Some reports claimed the humpback swam through the Buttermilk Channel, which is the narrow passage between Governor’s Island and Red Hook. This is 40 miles from the animal’s typical feeding grounds along Rockaway Beach.
According to Brown, the whale may have been hunting down a meal, such as Atlantic menhaden, white perch, striped bass, flounder, black sea bass and more. Generally, whales tend to avoid the city epicenter, one reason being the high boat traffic. They are very occasionally seen in the urban waters.
“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,” said Brown.
Brown said the sighting was “not totally out of the ordinary,” but pointed out that it was in 2022 that a humpback whale last appeared in the East River. Before that, a humpback was spotted in the nearby Hudson River in 2020.
“It’s been a couple years, but we’ve had records of other interesting species in the Hudson River,” Brown said. “For example, there have been a lot of dolphin sightings in the Hudson River over the years, so we do know it’s possible for these species to move in that direction, but of course, it’s always a surprise — especially when it comes to these whales.”
Warning issued
Brown estimated the whale spotted on Monday is a juvenile between 25 and 35 feet long. Only a lone image of the whale was captured, making it difficult to confirm its age or length, but Brown made the estimate based on predecessors that have previously frequented the area.
Brown went on to implore that any future sightings be reported to Gotham Whale. She also issued a warning.
“There’s a lot of risks to a whale in that area,” Brown said. “So we’re hoping this whale is going to be safe. We’re hoping that people are watching out for it when they’re on their boats in the area. And these people who are seeing the whale in the river are actually really helping us out by letting people know that they’re seeing it.”
