A study released last summer showed the NY Harbor is a ‘dining hotspot’ for Bottlenose Dolphins, and it certainly shows–dolphins are constantly being spotted swimming around by NYers, whether it be in the East River or the Hudson River, though this time it was near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
According to SILive, Staten Island resident Vincent Savino had a first-hand Planet Earth experience when he was greeted by dozens of dolphins while fishing one morning near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
“I’ve been fishing in these waters since I was a tiny kid, I’ve never in my life seen something like that,” Savino told SILive.
The spectacle, which Savino says lasted around 20 to 30 minutes, took place on July 15 at around 7:30 a.m.
“It was cool because it was kind of like an organized feed, those mammals are really smart,” added Savino. “What they were doing was they were kicking up the blue fish with their tails and the surrounding dolphins were catching them with their mouths when the fish were falling back down to the water.”
Amazingly, dolphins aren’t the only sea creatures that have been frequenting Staten Island’s waters lately.
TikTok user @rpepee posted a video on July 15th of a Minke whale calf breaching right near his boat while “cruising from South Beath to Midland Beach,” the caption reads. The whale was reportedly feeding on small baitfish.
According to the NYC Parks Department, spotting dolphins and whales in NYC is good news for the city’s waters, stating “it shows that the decades-long effort to restore the river as a healthy habitat is working.”