Pair Of Dolphins Make Rare Appearance In The East River

By Idy Perl

A pair of dolphins were spotted several times over the past weekend swimming and leaping into the air in the East River, along the FDR Drive in the Upper West Side. 

Officials are claiming that the rare sighting is due to NYC’s cleaner water, which allows marine mammals like dolphins to get closer to the shore and feed on the fish that lives there. 

Gotham Whale, an organization that studies and advocates for marine mammals, has been closely monitoring the dolphins and trying to study their behavior. Gotham Whale states that the spotted dolphins are from the common dolphin species, of which there have only been a handful of sightings near NYC in the last few years. 

“There are fish in the river now, but it is not clear at this point if the dolphins are feeding,” Director of Research at Gotham Whale, Danielle Brown, said. “The fact that it is not a frequent occurrence makes it even more important that any sightings are reported so that these dolphins can be monitored.”