Two juvenile humpback whales got stuck on sandbars off Fire Island, New York, and both managed to swim free as the tide rose. The U.S. Coast Guard responded at about 8:30 a.m. to a report of a whale stranded in shallow offshore waters near Saltaire, kicking off hours of monitoring that drew in several marine-rescue agencies before the animals made it back to open water.
Hours of Watching and Waiting Near Saltaire
According to ABC7 New York, Coast Guard crews kept the stranded whale hydrated and used their own boat to shield it from nearby vessel traffic while it sat exposed on the sandbar. Crewmember Collin Easter described the effort bluntly: “We were spraying water on it because we didn't want it to get dehydrated or sunburnt.” Another crewmember, Logan Pina, said the whale was clearly still alive because responders could see it blowing out of its blowhole throughout the ordeal.
The whale near Saltaire was identified by Newsday as a 20- to 25-foot adolescent humpback that had been chasing redfish when it became trapped atop an outer sandbar. That animal swam to safety around 2:30 p.m. as the incoming tide finally gave it enough water to move, the outlet reported. 6abc Philadelphia, which first published the Coast Guard's account of the rescue, noted the whale freed itself after several hours stranded offshore.
A Second Whale Near Ocean Bay Park
Newsday's report also detailed a second stranding that morning: a whale stuck behind a sandbar near Ocean Bay Park was freed before noon, well ahead of the Saltaire animal's escape. Rob DiGiovanni, cited in that same reporting, said the second humpback had gotten onto a sandbar but managed to get off in time, without need for direct intervention from crews on scene. Both whales, according to the report, appeared to be uninjured when they finally left the sandbars behind.
Crews also observed three whales total in the waters off Fire Island National Seashore that day, per ABC7's account, suggesting the two strandings were part of a broader cluster of whale activity along that stretch of coast. The response pulled in the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Suffolk Marine Patrol, NOAA Fisheries and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation alongside the Coast Guard, whose mission includes environmental protection and safeguarding marine life.
Why Whales Keep Turning Up So Close to Shore
Marine life experts told Newsday that sandbars reshaped by a recent nor'easter likely created the conditions that allowed both whales to become trapped, with the storm's erosion altering the underwater terrain just offshore. It's a reminder that the near-shore waters off Long Island have become more crowded with whale activity in recent years, not less.
Researchers have recently observed more whales lingering off New York Harbor to feed on sand lances, Atlantic menhaden and other small fish rather than continuing on to their traditional feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine, according to The New York Times. That same reporting found that traffic from container ships, tankers and fishing vessels has grown more congested since the coronavirus pandemic, contributing to collisions and entanglements that have stranded whales in both New York and New Jersey. Atlantic whale populations have slowly rebounded since protective measures including the 1986 international moratorium on commercial whaling, but experts say the comeback has brought more young whales into contact with heavy vessel traffic.
Juvenile humpbacks in the New York Bight may be especially vulnerable to vessel strikes because they tend to feed at the surface in shallow waters close to shore, according to The Wildlife Society. The group's reporting found there have been 38 nearshore and 11 offshore humpback whale deaths in New York waters since 2016, underscoring just how risky these inshore waters can be for young whales even when a stranding ends without injury, as both Fire Island whales' did this week.
