By Mike Busch
I had the pleasure of joining American Princess Cruises and Gotham Whale on Friday afternoon in search of Humpback Whales off New York City. The crew reported some incredible action on Thursday in Raritan Bay so with very similar conditions I bet the whales would probably still be there.
We pulled away from Riis Landing at Noon with blue skies and light winds out of the West. Visibility was excellent with a great view of the Manhattan skyline and Coney Island on the way to the general location where three Humpbacks had been gorging on bunker the day before.
On the way out there are plenty of things to see.
Grumman C-2 Greyhound
Romer Shoal Lighthouse
After steaming across lower New York Bay and passing the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, we entered Raritan Bay in a position between Staten Island and the tip of New Jersey. It wasn’t long before we saw a blow and then a lunge feeding Humpback in the distance.
We stayed with this whale for about a half hour as he continued to lunge feed through schools of bunker.
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