Humpback whales feeding off New York’s coast are part of the Gulf of Maine population that migrates south each winter to Caribbean breeding grounds, and the record leans heavily toward iNaturalist (138 of 155 records), suggesting whale-watching trips and shore sightings, not survey data, document most of what’s known here. Fire Island National Seashore’s 6 logged sightings anchor the offshore waters this species passes through.
August and September together account for 61 of the 155 records, close to 40 percent of the total, tracking the peak feeding season when humpbacks concentrate on schooling fish off the coast before heading south; records stay thin from January through April, when most whales have moved to warmer breeding waters.
Full species profile
