A new visitor is turning heads in New York City waters.
A young humpback whale was seen lunging and breaching off Coney Island over the weekend, becoming the 500th individual humpback documented in the city’s waters since researchers began keeping track in 2012.
Identified as a first-time sighting by the distinctive markings on its tail fluke, the whale delivered a memorable display for spectators — and, according to experts, underscored a bigger environmental shift: New York Harbor and its surrounding waters are becoming cleaner, healthier and more dependable habitat for marine life.
“It’s really inspiring and amazing that New York City is offering these animals — that are finding challenging situations elsewhere — a place to thrive, that New York City, a place where we’ve associated with not very clean water and not with a vibrant ecosystem, is becoming a lifeline for 500 humpback whales that have been passing through our waters over the last decade or so,” Chris St. Lawrence of the advocacy group Gotham Whale told The Post.
Researchers identify humpback whales by their tails, and the scarring pattern on this whale’s fluke earned it a place in the New York City Humpback Whale Catalog under the name “NYC0500” — officially making it the catalog’s milestone 500th entry.
The whale, believed to be about 1 year old, was initially spotted near the Sail 4th 250 festivities around Sandy Hook, New Jersey. But researchers were not able to confirm it as a new individual until July 28, when they captured a clear look at the underside of its tail.
The encouraging news did not stop there: the juvenile humpback appeared healthy, energetic and eager to feed.
“We saw a small whale that was really intent on feeding. It was spending a lot of time below the surface, for the most part. But then we also saw some of those lunge feeds where it comes up out of the water,” St. Lawrence said.
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“These animals are here to put on weight, especially those juveniles. They’re looking to get as much food as possible to grow as quickly as possible, to put on those fat layers so that if they want to, they can migrate back down south for the winter.”
NYC0500’s entry into the catalog is a sign that humpback whale populations have become a major part of the city’s marine ecosystem.
The NYCHWC has been recording as many as 100 new whales in the New York Harbor and surrounding waterways since 2018 — a significant surge from the 10 to 30 that were recorded annually when it was created in 2012.
It’s also an indicator that Big Apple waters are growing increasingly cleaner, inviting bunker fish and other smaller fish to swim in the waves.
Warming oceans also mean that the city’s waterways are becoming more hospitable for the massive creatures.
Humpbacks aren’t the only whales that have been making the Big Apple home — endangered North Right Whales have been spotted swimming through the Port of New York and New Jersey in the past year.
A pod of fin whales also soared near Brooklyn in June, inspiring Gotham Whale to start its second species catalog dedicated to the massive cetacean.
But the increase in marine life could mean higher instances of ship collisions, researchers warned, urging boaters to reduce their speeds and keep clear of them.
The New York legislature unanimously passed the Whale Awareness Act, which directs New York agencies to develop marine mammal interaction prevention recommendations — a pending law still awaiting final action by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
