Whale, Dolphin Populations Rebound On The East End

“Thar, she blows!” is once again a common phrase shouted by beachgoers along the shores of Southampton, but today it has a far different meaning than it did during the early settlement of the area. Hailed by commercial whalers, “Thar, she blows!” would alert the crew when a whale was spotted as it surfaced to take a breath.

Historically, the maritime waters of Long Island were “rich” in whales, and this abundance attracted many whalers to the beaches of Southampton. The first record of colonists organizing a hunt for whales from shore was in March 1644. By the early 18th century, Sag Harbor was one of the largest whaling ports in the country.

Due to centuries of hunting these majestic animals, many species were pushed to the brink of extinction, and the cry of “Thar, she blows!” fell silent — until now.

Thankfully, whales and other marine mammals are currently federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. With fewer than 400 individuals left in the world, it is probably too late for the North Atlantic right whale to fully rebound. The Atlantic humpback whale, on the other “fluke,” is no longer listed as endangered or threatened. It is once again a very common sight around Long Island, making this a huge environmental success story.

This act played a major role in the rebound of humpback whales, but it was not that alone that brought them back.

Environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act helped to improve overall conditions, but another key ingredient that needed protection was the whale’s food. Atlantic menhaden (aka bunker, moss bunker, fatback, pogy) is a type of herring that is not only a preferred food of humpback whales — just about every animal in our marine environment feeds on them at some point throughout their lives. Because of this, menhaden are considered by many as “the most important fish in the sea.”

Even with such a prestigious title, they have zero value as a seafood. Though they are not prized as food, they are still commercially harvested, for use as bait and in a reduction fishery (processed into fishmeal, oils and dietary supplements). Due to their lack of appeal as table fare, menhaden were basically an unregulated fishery prior to 2012, and the stock was being overfished.

Realizing that this fishery was being overfished, biologists established some of the first harvest quotas. Soon after the implementation of these regulations, the menhaden population boomed and has fueled all the predators that prey upon them — especially the cetaceans.

I have been “hooked” on fish since the age of 6, and there are very few things that will cause me to put down my fishing rod. Spotting a whale or a pod of dolphins will stop me mid-cast every time. Pictures cannot describe the feeling I get when seeing such majestic creatures in person, especially in my own backyard. It is truly a magical experience.

Whales, dolphins and porpoises all belong to a group of marine mammals known as cetaceans. They are further separated into two suborders, the toothed (odontocetes) and baleen (mysticetes) whales. As their name implies, toothed whales have teeth, which they use to catch their prey.

In recent years, one toothed whale that has become a very common sight throughout the Long Island Sound, south shore bays and ocean beaches is the bottlenose dolphin. They prey on a wide variety of fish and invertebrates, but with the resurgence of menhaden, there isn’t an easier or more readily available meal.

They feed by first working as a team to corral the menhaden into a tightly packed bait ball. After corralling the fish, the dolphin will swim through the school, smacking their tail to stun them. Dazed, the menhaden are then easily picked up by the dolphin.

Other toothed whales would be harbor porpoise, common dolphins, pilot whales and sperm whales.

In place of teeth, baleen whales have rows of long plates growing from their upper jaw. These plates are known as baleen. The outside edge of each plate is smooth, while the inside edge is bristly. Together, the row of plates forms a dense mat of “hair.” When a mouthful of water is pushed through the “hair,” any food it might contain will get trapped on the “hairs.” The whale can then swallow the food without the large volume of water.

Humpback, finback, minke and right whales are some examples of baleen whales.

While visiting the inshore waters of Long Island, a humpback whale’s favorite food is menhaden. As a schooling fish, menhaden spend most of their time swimming just below the surface, where they feed by filtering plankton from the water. When a humpback whale encounters one of these massive schools, it will dive below them and swim to the surface as fast as it can. Moments before breaking the surface, the whale will throw open its enormous mouth in a behavior known as lunge feeding. Having no place to go, the fish explode from the water in hopes of a quick escape, but for many it is a lost cause, and hundreds of fish are scooped up in a single gulp.

Growing to 15 inches in length each, several hundred menhaden can be quite the mouthful. To accommodate such an immense volume of food and water, humpback whales have long grooves on their throat known as ventral pleats. This allows the whale’s throat to expand immensely to take in large volumes of water and food.

Last summer, there was a report of a SCUBA diver being “swallowed” by a humpback whale. Ventral pleats would allow a humpback whale to fit a diver in its mouth, but it would be impossible for the whale to swallow a diver. With a throat diameter of 15 inches, a menhaden is the largest prey it could consume.

Seeing a humpback whale lunge feeding on menhaden is truly awesome, but that is just one of their many behaviors that will leave you speechless. Humpback whales often will put on quite the show by breeching (which is when they jump clear of the water), slapping the water with their pectoral fins, and, my favorite, lobtailing. This is when a humpback whale raises its tail from the water and repeatedly slaps the surface. It is believed that these are just some of the ways they communicate with one another.

Observing the underside of a humpback whale’s tail while they are lobtailing or when they raise it from the water for a deep dive can help tell the story of that individual whale. The two lobes of the tail are called flukes. Each whale has a unique pattern on the underside of the flukes — like fingerprints — and researchers can keep track of individual whales by photographing the flukes and compiling a database.

Humpback whales do not always show the underside of their flukes, but dorsal fin shape and body markings are two other characteristics that can be used to identify individuals. Some of these patterns the whales are born with, while other markers/scars are created by outside forces. Unfortunately, it is a common sight to see scars caused by boat strikes and entanglements with fishing gear. Other scars were created by natural forces and show how nature is an “eat or be eaten” world.

Quite often, I photograph tails that have rake marks along the edge of the flukes that were caused by orcas (killer whales). Although orcas are extremely rare this far south, it shows the great distances a humpback whale travels. Even more impressive is the fact that at lengths greater than 50 feet and weighing 40 tons, even humpback whales are susceptible to predation.

I am repeatedly asked, “How do you get so lucky to see all this cool stuff?” My answer is simple: Slow down and pay attention to the world around you.

Last summer, I photographed a humpback whale lunge feeding in front of Sagg Main Beach. When I got home and went through the pictures, I was shocked to see that not one person on the beach was watching this large whale repeatedly leap from the water only a hundred yards from shore.

Ferris Bueller said it best: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

With a degree in marine biology from LIU/Southampton, Chris Paparo is the manager of Stony Brook University’s Marine Sciences Center. Additionally, he is an award-winning member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and the NYS Outdoor Writers Association. You can follow Paparo on social media at @fishguyphotos.