A Wildlife Conservation Society boat survey documents extraordinary diversity of whales and marine life in the New York Bight
Video HERE Photo HERE
NEW YORK, July 28, 2026 — A single day at sea can sometimes tell a much bigger story.
Watch this video HERE. These images were taken by the Wildlife Conservation Society New York Bight Program’s Ocean Giants research team on June 29.
During a recent research expedition in the New York Bight, scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) documented an extraordinary gathering of whales and other marine wildlife just 25 to 35 miles south of Long Island, capturing spectacular images of humpback whales bubble-feeding, fin whales lunging through schools of fish, minke whales likely feeding just below the surface, common dolphins riding the research vessel's bow, and humpback whale mothers accompanied by calves, some of which performed acrobatic behaviors such as breaching.
Stretching from Montauk, New York, to Cape May, New Jersey, the New York Bight is one of the busiest marine ecosystems in North America. It supports commercial shipping, fishing, recreation, offshore energy development, and millions of people living along its shores.
Increasingly, it is also serving as important habitat for large whales and other marine wildlife. For the WCS scientists who have spent more than a decade studying the marine life in these waters, the remarkable day was more than a collection of memorable wildlife encounters; it was another powerful example of how the waters off New York and New Jersey have become an important habitat for whales.
"People are often surprised to learn that whale watching on the U.S. East Coast now happens within sight of New York City," said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Executive Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Bight Program. "When we began our research more than a decade ago, these waters weren't widely recognized as important whale habitat. Today, we regularly encounter multiple marine mammal species using this ecosystem, and days like this remind us just how extraordinary—and important—the New York Bight is and has become. And how important it is to protect the New York Bight, from waters nearshore to further offshore including Hudson Canyon, which we are advocating to become a National Marine Sanctuary."
As whales have become increasingly visible in the New York Bight over the past several years, WCS’s long-term visual and passive acoustic research has helped document the importance of these waters for multiple species seasonally and even year-round. Researchers are continuing to study the ecological conditions that influence where and when whales occur across the region.
"One reason we find these high concentrations of animals in some years is because the whales are following their prey,” Rosenbaum said. “Dense schools of baitfish attract humpback, fin, and minke whales and other marine predators into feeding aggregations. Some of our fieldwork and subsequent analyses have revealed these remarkable aggregations; yet more is needed to better understand the full picture of where and when these highly productive areas take shape within and between years. Understanding those changes is essential if we're going to protect these animals in one of the busiest coastal regions in the world."
The WCS New York Bight Program has conducted systematic whale and dolphin research throughout the region for more than a decade, using vessel surveys, photo-identification, passive acoustic monitoring, and other scientific methods to understand how marine mammals use these waters throughout the year. Findings from this work have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and are shared with the public through WCS’s Whales of New York website, helping to build a growing body of evidence about the importance of the New York Bight to whales and other marine wildlife.
That long-term research is helping scientists answer important questions about where and when whales, dolphins, and other marine life carry out essential life functions in the New York Bight, while informing conservation efforts to reduce potential threats and impacts from vessel strikes, fishing gear entanglement, and underwater noise.
The images, captured on June 29, also include a fin whale with injuries consistent with a vessel strike, underscoring the threats whales continue to face in the waters off of New York and New Jersey and the growing need to better understand and protect them in these metropolitan waterways.
The recent survey offered a rare opportunity to witness multiple feeding behaviors and species interacting within the same productive ecosystem. Researchers documented humpback whales corralling fish with curtains of bubbles before surfacing collectively through their prey, fin whales accelerating through dense bait balls, minke whales in and around the area, likely feeding below the surface, and common dolphins taking advantage of the abundant forage fish.
"What makes this day so special is not just the sheer number of whales we saw in one area," Rosenbaum said. "It's what they were doing. They were feeding, taking advantage of an incredibly productive foraging hotspot. One survey does not tell the whole story, but days like this help bring our long-term science to life, and remind us why protecting these waters has never been more important."
The accompanying video also captures humpback calves repeatedly breaching alongside their mothers, offering a glimpse into the next generation of whales now using New York's coastal waters.
Video and Photo Highlights
The accompanying images were captured approximately 25–35 miles south of Long Island on June 29, 2026 and include:
Videos and Photos collected by the WCS New York Bight Program Ocean Giants team conducted pursuant to NMFS ESA/MMPA Permit No. 27057
WCS especially thanks our Captain Joseph DePalma, as well as the coordinated and collaborative on-water efforts of Carl Lobue and The Nature Conservancy New York team.
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