Endangered Fin Whales Spotted in New York City, May Have Been Living There For a Decade Already [Study]

Fin whales, the second-largest animal in the world, seemingly found a new home. However, it may not really be new as they could have been living in the area for a decade already.

Fin Whales Spotted in New York City

Fin whales are mostly found in temperate to polar latitudes, but they can be found in deep, offshore waters in all major oceans. The tropics have less of them.

They can be found all year round in many different places. However, the number of individuals in each area varies with the season. Most move to tropical breeding and calving grounds in the winter from feeding grounds in the Arctic and Antarctic in the summer.

It is unknown where the winter breeding sites are located. Fin whales are hard to track since they migrate far from the coast in open waters.

However, the endangered whales have been spotted around New York and New Jersey. They've been in the city that never sleeps year-round, according to a new study carried out by a team of scientists at the Wildlife Conservation Society in The Bronx and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

A four-year audio recorder program from a buoy located approximately 40 miles off the shore of Long Island, New York, showed that male fin whales spend the entire year in the region. Throughout the whole study period, whales were heard singing thanks to the buoys.

Fin whales sing entirely by themselves, but since they breed in the winter, females are probably close by when the males are belting out their winter melodies. Additionally, the scientists discovered that while the females could migrate during the warmer months, at least some of the males seem to be staying put.

The fact that the second largest mammal to have ever lived on Earth is found in the New York Bight, year-round off our coasts, is very impressive, even though they may not be spotted as near to shore as other whales and dolphins, according to Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Ocean Giants Program, in a statement.

He added that they were hoping that by working together, they could better protect these incredible, threatened animals in the NY Bight through increased efforts and best practices.

The New York Bight (NY Bight)-- which stretches outward in the approximate shape of a triangle east from Long Island, New York, and south from Cape May inlet in New Jersey -- is where the whales reportedly live.

What Are Fin Whales?

Fin whales come second to the blue whale, which is deemed the largest whale species on Earth. It can be found in every ocean on the planet. Its name comes from a prominent fin located close to its tail on its back. They have a maximum length of 85 feet, from tip to tail, and a maximum weight of 80 tons or 160,000 pounds.

Fin whale populations were drastically reduced as a result of commercial whale hunting, which affected all great whale species. Initially, whalers did not pursue them due to their swift swimming abilities and preference for wide ocean environments. However, whaling shifted to fin whales when steam-powered ships and explosive harpoons were used to modernize the practice, and whalers wiped off other easily caught species.

During the mid-1900s, this business claimed a great number of fin whales, nearly 725,000 in the Southern Hemisphere alone. Fin whales are no longer threatened by whaling, as commercial whaling ceased in the 1970s and 1980s.

However, some subsistence hunting is still permitted in Greenland under the International Whaling Commission's sustainable quotas. At the moment, vessel strikes pose the greatest hazard to this species. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the fin whale is classified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

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