FIRE ISLAND, N.Y. — Two juvenile humpback whales stranded on sandbars off New York’s Fire Island returned to open water, with one helped by rising tides and crews that responded, including the U.S. Coast Guard.
Coast Guard personnel responded to a report of a whale stranded in shallow waters at about 8:30 a.m. Their first concern was determining whether the animal was alive.
“We watched it blowing out of its blowhole, and that’s how we figured out it was alive,” U.S. Coast Guard firefighter Logan Pina said.
Coast Guard crews kept the juvenile humpback whale hydrated and used their boat to shield it from nearby vessel traffic while it remained stuck.
“We were spraying water on it because we didn’t want it to get dehydrated or sunburned. And just ensured that no boats came too close,” Collin Easter, a U.S. Coast Guard BM1, said.
The response involved multiple agencies and organizations, including the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Suffolk Marine Patrol, NOAA Fisheries and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
“We were really concerned about the whale and once it started making its way we were cheering it on we were pretty excited about that,” Chief Paul Segura said.
After several hours stranded offshore, the whale freed itself.
“We did end up seeing the whale leave, the whole time we were cheering it on,” Pina said.
While responding to the incident, crews observed three whales in the area off Fire Island National Seashore. Officials said a second humpback whale had also been on a sandbar but was able to free itself.
“Not only monitor that humpback whale, but we saw others, we had a second that was on a sandbar, but it got off in time,” Rob DiGiovanni, chief scientist for the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, said.
Officials said one of the Coast Guard’s missions is environmental protection, which includes safeguarding marine life.
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