Thar she blows!
A geographically challenged humpback whale drifted into New York waters and spent about 24 hours in the Big Apple before heading back out to sea last night.
The 30-foot-long mammal was spotted at about 11 a.m. yesterday near the Verrazano Bridge, forcing a massive operation to protect it from ships entering and leaving New York Harbor. It’s believed to be the same animal seen the night before cavorting for Rockaway residents, who rushed to the beach as word got out about the giant tourist.
Cops and the Coast Guard also showed up in case it tried to beach itself, but it turned tail and swam off. When it turned up again yesterday in the Lower Bay a mile south of the bridge, “it had no trouble swimming, diving or breathing,” said Terri Frady, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which mobilized a team of experts to the scene from Long Island.
The whale — which experts think is about a year old — is slightly underweight, but showed no signs of illness or injury.
The experts decided to leave well enough alone, since the whale was doing the right thing.