Whale watching cruises make waves in Brooklyn
Departing from Pier 8 in Sheepshead Bay, the American Princess Cruises offer whale-watching tours five days a week, giving people a front-row seat to dolphins and whales.
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Whales and dolphins might seem like rare sights for New Yorkers — but not if you're aboard the American Princess Cruise.
Departing from Pier 8 in Sheepshead Bay, the American Princess Cruises offer whale-watching tours five days a week, giving people a front-row seat to dolphins and whales.
“Every day is different,” said Captain Thomas Paladino, who has spent a lifetime fishing and boating in the waters around New York. “Sometimes we go down the Jersey Shore, some days we go down the Long Island shore, some days we go in between.”
Paladino said he started noticing sightings of whales began in the early 2000s — and now, they’re more common than ever.
“The first year we saw whales 50% of the time, then 60% — and it kept getting better,” he said. “Now we're up to like 95% sightings on the whales.”
The 3 1/2-hour cruise runs Wednesday through Sunday at noon, offering passengers the chance to spot humpbacks and dolphins in their natural habitat.
Chris St. Lawrence, a naturalist on board and a member of Gotham Whale, says they've documented over 460 individual whales in the area, with about 100 new additions just last year alone.
So, why are so many whales showing up now?
St. Lawrence say it’s a combination of cleaner waters and climate change, which is shifting fish populations and attracting marine mammals to new feeding grounds.
Although whales didn’t make an appearance on this particular trip, passengers can keep trying through the end of November.
Passengers were given a $20 voucher to come back since no whales were spotted.
There’s also a sunset cruise available every Saturday.
