There’s nothing fishy about it.
This summer, one fisherman waded with a humpback whale off Staten Island and another reeled in a great white shark in the Rockaways — as experts say rare marine life is swimming closer to the city’s shores as cleaner waters spawn more bait.
“New York City is the new Cape Cod,” said Paul Sieswerda, head of tracking group Gotham Whale. “You can see whales and dolphins with the skyline in the background.”
Sieswerda’s citizen scientists are cataloguing the city’s marine mammals — particularly humpback whales — aboard American Princess Cruises based in Breezy Point, Queens.
In 2011, Gotham Whale counted five whales in New York waters. A year later they found 25, and in 2013 there were 43 whales.
From spring until July 24, there have been 29 whale sightings, Sieswerda said. He says cleaner waters spawn more bait fish, like Atlantic menhaden, which attracts predators.
On June 30, Staten Island fisherman Ricky Patat spotted a humpback whale in Raritan Bay, about a mile off Great Kills — and jumped in the water to swim with it.
“The eye was the size of my head,” Patat said. “It was one of the greatest things.”
“Humpback whales are in the North Atlantic this time of year for feeding,” said Mendy Garron, marine mammal response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“Increase or longer presence in certain areas usually mean that there is an abundant food source.”
Meanwhile, fishermen a mile off Rockaway Beach hooked and released an 80-pound baby great white shark — and spotted its mother swimming nearby on June 22.
Days later, another boater reeled in a different baby great white.