NYC reaches whale-sized milestone: 500th humpback whale spotted in waters

NEW YORK - New York City has reached a whale of a milestone.

Gotham Whale, a Staten Island-based nonprofit marine research and conservation group, documented its 500th humpback whale in the waters surrounding the five boroughs. 

What we know:

Chris St. Lawrence, outreach director with Gotham Whale and a naturalist with American Princess Cruises, said whale-watching vessels throughout the area all contributed their sightings to the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog. 

"We've been seeing an increase in whales in this area in recent decades," he said Tuesday in an interview with FOX 5 NY's Dan Bowens.

The backstory:

St. Lawrence said the Humpback Whale Catalog was started in 2012 by photographing the underside of whales' tail prints. 

"Each whale has their own unique tail print, just like each human has their own fingerprint," he said. 

Since then, documented sightings have gone from 10 to 30 whales per year to roughly 80 to 100. 

"That's not the number of encounters, that number is way higher. That's actually the number of individual whales that are making their way through the New York City region," St. Lawrence said. 

Dig deeper:

According to St. Lawrence, the bump in whale sightings around here is thanks in part to New York's conservation efforts as whales search for fish to eat. 

"Historically, humpback whales go a little further north to feed, places like the Gulf of Maine, off of Cape Cod. But the waters further north are warming up faster than some other parts of the ocean … and these whales are needing to find new places to find food," St. Lawrence said. "The coast of New York City has been improving in its water quality. We've been seeing more fish with the improvement of fishery regulations, especially closer to shore." 

What you can do:

Gotham Whale says you can contribute to its marine research if you see a whale, dolphin or seal in the western New York Bright, which spans from Montauk to Cape May, by doing the following: 

1. Take a picture or video of the animal.
2. Record your GPS coordinates using the vessel's GPS or any GPS mapping app.
3. Click the link to Report a Sighting and fill out the form.

Click here for more information. 

New York City