There are a surprisingly large number of blowholes in New York.
Scientists listening for signs of whales in the waters around New York Harbor were stunned to discover a rather impressive population whiling and singing their days away only a couple of miles from the Statue of Liberty.
“This isn’t exactly great real estate for whales,” said Dr. Christopher Clark, director of bioacoustics research at Cornell’s ornithology lab. “It would be like trying to make a home in the middle of the Long Island Expressway.”
When Clark’s team placed three buoys with microphones a few miles from Kennedy Airport and another seven off Jones Beach, they expected to hear some whales, but were struck by the fact that there were hundreds – rights, fins and humpbacks – some commuting and others making their home near the city.
The whale songs, which range from mooing to melodic, probably get drowned out by the sounds of the city, but if one were to listen long and hard enough they are definitely out there, he said.
“In deeper waters the songs can travel much further than they do in the 30-to 50-feet-deep waters near New York,” Clark said.
This large population, including the endangered right whales, of which only 400 or so remain in the Atlantic, is a concern considering the amount of large ship traffic in the harbor, Clark said.
“These whales are basically dodging and weaving, and they routinely get run over by ships,” he said.
These whales are far less common here than they are off the cost of New England, where the feeding may be better, Clark said.
Even though it’s unlikely that the discovery of this whale population is going to spark whale-watching tours like the ones that leave from Boston or Provincetown, scientists hope this new awareness will help protect these wondrous creatures.
The team, which was working in conjunction with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, plans to expand the listening stations to year-round.