Multiple Whales In Long Beach Waters Cause Awe, And Concern

Whales, dolphins, seals and more are no strangers to the waters off Long Beach. However, the sea creatures usually keep to the ocean. So residents and conservationists alike were surprised to see a humpback whale swimming around Reynolds Channel this week.

There have been multiple whale sightings in the channel, and it's unclear exactly how many there are. However, there is one that has caught the eye of conservationists: a humpback whale that they are concerned may become stuck in the channel, especially if boaters get too close.

"We are urging boaters to be aware of the whale, and keep a distance of at least 100 feet and not approach it head-on so as to not stress the animal, and use caution when navigating the area," said the Atlantic Marine Conseravtion Society, a group based out of Hampton Bays.

The AMCS said that the whale appeared to be healthy and was breathing normally, but it was concerned it could be scared into more shallow waters and beach itself. The AMCS sent out a team of scientists, along with workers from the Town of Hempstead and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, on Wednesday and monitored the whale for five hours.

"The team observed one individual that traveled an extensive area around Hog Island Channel, went as far north as the mouth of the Mill River, and returned to Reynolds Channel at the end of the afternoon," the AMCS wrote on Facebook. "While we continue to get numerous reports of whales in the immediate area, our
efforts concentrated on this individual whale due to the potential dangers it could face in the shallower areas of channels in this vicinity."

The whale in Reynolds Channel is not the only one that needed help this week near Long Beach, either. Another humpback whale was spotted off the shore of the barrier island, and it was wrapped with fishing gear. On Nov. 11 and 12, the Center for Coastal Studies, based out of Massachusetts, sent members of its Marine Animal Entanglement Response to the area to help.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with them, and they were not able to remove all of the fishing gear from the whale. They plan to return to get the rest of the gear off the whale when the weather is more cooperative. Fortunately for the whale, the gear didn't seem to be interfering with its swimming or eating, so it's in no immediate threat.

Check out the #CCS and #USCG rescue attempt of a #Humpbackwhale off of Long Beach NY. https://t.co/lJ7jETI3Fg pic.twitter.com/01ndtM5Niu
— nycwhalephotographer (@araslich) November" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/araslich/s... 14, 2017

Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images News/Getty Images