Whale paying late visit to New York

A WHALE has been spotted swimming in New York City’s East River, close to the waterfront of Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

US Coast Guard Petty Officer Frank Iannazzo-Simmons said he and his colleagues had not seen the whale first-hand, but deduced from photos that it appeared to be a humpback.

A photo of the whale was posted on Twitter by Chief Harry J Wedin, NYPD chief of special operations division.

Iannazzo-Simmons called for crews of the city’s ferries, tourist boats and private vessels to exercise caution for the animal’s sake, and to let the whale be the whale.

Whale sightings are becoming increasingly common in New York City, with 20 individual whales spotted last year alone.

According to Gotham Whale, a New York-based marine tracking group, 50 whales have been spotted in the city since 2011.

North Atlantic Humpbacks breed in Caribbean waters, but travel north to the colder, fish-rich waters of the Arctic. Fully-grown humpbacks can measure up to 16m in length, and weigh up to 30 000kg.

Gotham Whale executive director Paul Sieswerda said: “It’s uncommon for whales to be around this late in the season, and even more unusual for them to be in the harbour. Humpbacks would normally be heading for the warm waters of the Dominican Republic.” – The Telegraph