Blue Whales Off Coast Of New York
Experts from the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have for the first time positively identified the voice of a singing blue whale about 70 miles off the Long Island and New York City coast, closer than ever, Cornell and the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced.
The whale’s sound was detected Jan. 10-11 using 10 Cornell acoustic recorders deployed about 10 miles off the entrance to New York Harbor and off Fire Island. A second blue whale was heard farther offshore in the direction of Bermuda.
The system of acoustic recorders previously confirmed the presence of migrating right whales, near New York harbor.
“This was a real treat,” said Christopher Clark, director of the Cornell Bioacoustics Research Program. While he suspected blue whales might be offshore, it’s amazing to think they’re so close to New York, he said.
“The largest animal on earth is just right there. You don’t have to go to Africa, you don’t have to go to Antarctica.”
Blue whales can grow to 100 feet long, though in the northern hemisphere they average 70-80 feet, according to the American Cetacean Society.
