In a scene straight out of a marine biologist's dream, a gray whale, thought extinct in the Atlantic for two centuries, has been spotted off the coast of Nantucket, Mass. Researchers from the New England Aquarium were conducting a routine observational flight when they caught sight of the marine anomaly. While soaring approximately 30 miles south of the island on March 1, they observed the whale thought to not properly belong in those waters. According to an NBC Boston report, the whale repeatedly dove and surfaced, behavior typical when feeding.

After spending a good 45 minutes circling above the whale to snap pictures for identification, the team had enough evidence to confirm that they were in fact, witnessing a gray whale. "I didn't want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy," Orla O'Brien, an associate research scientist at the aquarium told NBC Boston. Her colleague, research technician Kate Laemmle, shared in the surreal experience, stating to CBS News Boston, "My brain was trying to process what I was seeing, because this animal was something that should not really exist in these waters."

The gray whale, a species usually found in the North Pacific, can be easily identified by its lack of a dorsal fin and its distinct mottled skin. This sighting is among the handful of gray whale appearances in the Atlantic and Mediterranean over the last 15 years. Aquarium scientists are linking the sightings to the same whale that was spotted off the coast of Florida in December, suggesting that the intrepid creature has been making the rounds in atypically warm Atlantic waters.

Scientists suggest that the once ice-packed Northwest Passage, nourishing connections between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, has been much less of a navigational barrier in recent summers due to climate change. The shifting ice patterns are believed to allow these giants to slowly venture into previously inaccessible areas. "This sighting highlights how important each survey is. While we expect to see humpback, right, and fin whales, the ocean is a dynamic ecosystem, and you never know what you’ll find," O'Brien highlighted in her statement to NBC Boston. The rare encounters with the gray whale in the Atlantic stand as stark reminders of the rapid pace at which marine species can to respond to changes in the climate when given the opportunity.