Humpback Whale Makes Its Way To The Upper West Side: See It

Upper West Side NY

09 December, 2020

4:55 PM

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UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — It looks like a humpback whale is making its way up the shore of Manhattan. The whale was spotted by an onlooker perusing the Hudson River Wednesday around 7:30 a.m. near West 72nd Street. Humpback whale around 7:30 today near 72nd. pic.twitter.com/2r5mwHrdBZ— Jack W (@jrwoodhull) December 9, 2020 "I would say it is a humpback whale and almost definitely the same humpback as the one seen yesterday," said Paul Sieswerda, the founder of Gotham Whale." A humpback whale also got spotted Tuesday in the Hudson River near the Pier 84 area in Hell's Kitchen. .@gothamwhale humpback sighting around 4:15pm off Pier 84! pic.twitter.com/O3joPZoXS8— Andrés (@AndresJavierNYC) December 7, 2020 According to Sieswerda, it's not just any humpback whale that was photographed on the Upper West Side Wednesday and in Hell's Kitchen Tuesday. It is humpback whale NY0089. "We have records we were able to match that dorsal fin to pictures we took in 2018 and recently in November offshore," Sieswerda told Patch. The offshore reference means that the whale wasn't in New York Harbor as recently as November. Sieswerda thinks that the whale will stay around the Hudson River until it gets tired of feeding in that area. "Sometimes whales when they come into areas like this it's a sign that there's something wrong, but we're going to be optimistic," he said to Patch. Humpback whale sightings in New York City is not necessarily an unlikely occurrence. The team at the Rockaway-based nonprofit Gotham Whale began tracking sightings in the city in 2010 — counting just five the first year. That number has exploded in the time since, in 2018, the organization spotted a staggering 272, which were almost entirely humpbacks. So, if you find yourself walking along the Hudson River in the next couple of days on the Upper West Side, it might be smart to keep your eyes peeled on the water.