Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Stranded Humpback Whale on Rockaway Beach, June 1991
Color photograph by Don Riepe
Courtesy of Don Riepe, American Littoral Society

The New York Public Library provides the information contained on this website, including reproductions of certain items from other institutions or individuals, for personal or research use only. Contact Don Riepe for additional guidelines regarding use and reproduction of this image.

It is not always necessary to travel out of town to see whales: Humpback and Finback Whales can occasionally be sighted in New York Harbor and Long Island Sound. Unfortunately, the closest sightings have been of fatally stranded individuals, such as this Humpback Whale photographed by Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge manager Don Riepe on Rockaway Beach.

Humpbacks, like other baleen whales, feed by straining engulfed waters through sievelike plates, trapping crustaceans, fish, and other marine life. These enormous cetaceans, which can reach over 40 feet in length, spend the warmer months along the north Atlantic coast. Why whales and other marine mammals become stranded remains something of a mystery: although autopsies have revealed some fatally beached individuals to have been sick or injured, others seemingly were in good health.

Check out the sighting log to record your interaction with some of the native New York City wildlife, such as the Humpback Whale, featured in Urban Neighbors. You may also browse the sighting log by animal, borough, park or natural area, and/or habitat to view a sighting you have submitted or to read others’ observations.