Photographer captures humpback whale in New York Bay

An American photographer managed to immortalize a humpback whale that had ventured into New York Bay, not far from the Statue of Liberty. An astonishing sighting but not so rare.

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The Statue of Liberty rises above the waters of New York Bay. In the distance, a boat, probably returning from a tourist excursion, progresses peacefully on the surface, under a sky laden with clouds. So far, nothing unusual. If this is not the unexpected guest who is encrusted in the foreground: a humpback whale.

The scene was captured a few days ago by photographer Bjoern Kils. It was after hearing of the presence of a whale in the port of the Big Apple that the 41-year-old man grabbed his camera and set off to search for it with one of his company’s boats, New York Media Boats.

After two hours of exploration, he finally found the trace of the cetacean that appeared not far from Ellis Island. “The whale sprang about 300 meters from my bow!“, has explained to Reuters, Bjoern Kils, which benefited from a perfect setting to immortalize the specimen, estimated to be 12 meters in size.

“As she passed the Statue of Liberty, she threw her tail out of the water twice!“, he enthused.”It was amazing to see. This is definitely one of my best photos“, he told the BBC.

The photographer quickly tried to warn the other boats so that he left the way clear for the cetacean and that it could return to the Atlantic Ocean without hindrance. Due to the health situation linked to Covid-19, fortunately there were few boats in the bay that day.

Finally, the whale spent several hours grazing the shores of New York, resurfacing every minute or so, before crossing the Strait of The Narrows and resume his journey.

More and more frequent observations

When questioned by Reuters, the US Coast Guard confirmed the presence of the whale but said they would only intervene if it found itself trapped or in any way in danger. They also explained that while the sighting sounded amazing, it was not unusual.

“It’s quite normal to see whales around there“, assured the officer Anthony Pappaly. In recent years, cetaceans have even been shown to be less and less rare. According to authorities, more than a dozen specimens have appeared in New York waters, some approaching up to 500 yards from Rockaway Beach in Queens.

According to the NGO Gotham Whale, the observations go even further. In 2019, more than 370 cetaceans of different species, including humpback whales, were spotted off New York. In comparison, just five specimens were reported in 2011, according to the National Geographic.

Bjoern Kils himself has seen a few, the last in 2016. Whales, however, are much less common than other marine species such as seals that the photographer regularly encounters and immortalizes during his boat trips.

More fish and cleaner waters

At this time of year, the harbor waters are filled with menhadens, fish from the herring family that humpback whales love. According to Mr. Kils, this is what would have pushed this specimen to venture not far from the coasts. “The whale was feeding heavily on what we could see“, he assured.

The return of marine mammals could also be attributed to the improvement in water quality. Over the past two decades, measures have dramatically reduced pollution in the Hudson River, which previously harbored a dangerous cocktail of chemicals and waste.

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