Whales, seahorses, dolphins, oysters… The waters surrounding New York have never been so clean for almost a century, and the aquatic fauna is delighted.
This is news reported by the Courrier international which is cause for joy: from the ocean to the rivers, the waters that surround the New York metropolis, from the rivers to the Atlantic coast, are cleaner than they have been in a century. The result of decades of preservation workwhich is beginning to bear fruit.
Whales and oysters in New York
In the 1960s, seeing a whale off New York was an event. The fault is high pollution, in particular by the discharge of industrial pollutants and waste water, but also by the hunting of this species.
But beginning in 1972, a collection of federal, state, and local laws (the Clean Water Actl’Endangered species act et le Marine Mammal Protection act) are beginning to impose regulations that lead to restoration, then to the preservation of ecosystems off the Big Apple.
It took almost fortyyears for the results of these policies to be observed by the inhabitants of the city, and according to The Economist, they are amazing. Rorquals, humpback whales, sharks, seals, seahorses… It’s a whole fauna that reappears on the coasts of one of the most densely populated cities in the world, in front of the skyscrapers.
News to celebrate, but the job is not done
Faced with the climate emergency, and at a time when so many ecosystems are threatened by human activity and the disproportionate use of natural resources, we can only be delighted tosee the results of this ambitious policy for the preservation of the environment.
But if New Yorkers are happy to see the whales return around their homes, the job is far from over. Thus, in 2017, a article d’ABC News recalled:
Ensuring that the waters around New York remain a viable habitat, especially for whales, is a huge challenge. Whales face the same nuisances New Yorkers do, such as noise and intense shipping activity.
abcnews, Why whales are returning to New York City’s once polluted waters ‘by the ton’
The cleaning of the waters of the city, which all communicate with the ocean, is not finished either. From the back of New York Harbor to the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, a funny black layer still covers certain waters: nicknamed black mayo (black mayonnaise) by the inhabitants of the city, it results from industrial pollution, non- treated sewers in waterways, and remnants of storms. In Brooklyn, the canal cleanup began in 2020, and is expected to take a decade.
Two whales and a paddle, the mind-blowing encounter
Photo credit: Todd Cravens / Unsplash
