Humpback whale visits Narragansett Bay

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- On Monday, a humpback whale was seen swimming well off the beaten path in the waters of Narragansett Bay, just off the coast of Rhode Island.

Wickford harbormaster Ed Hughes first spotted the whale.

"I saw a splash, and I was thinking it was somebody in a boat in distress. It was kind of rough out," Hughes told the Boston Globe. "The next thing I know I saw a humpback whale completely out of the water."

Hughes told the Providence Journal the whale breached near Allen Harbor.

"It stayed splashing around for about 45 minutes. Last I saw of it she was heading out of the bay. Just wish it was a little closer," he said. "But just amazing to see it."

Biologists estimated the whale to be 50 feet long. Hughes, a former charter captain, said he has seen hundreds of humpbacks, but this is the first one he's seen in the bay.

"It is extremely unusual to see them in Narragansett bay," Hughes told UPI. "First one I have ever seen. I have seen them this time of year south of Jamestown in the ocean. There is a herring run happening and my guess is they stay and feed."

Many of the whale's peers have likely begun their journey south, but the promise of fish and warmer than usual water in the Gulf of Maine -- where most humpbacks spend the summer feeding -- may have delayed the trek for some.

Unusually warm water on the east and west coasts has caused a variety of unusual natural phenomena -- including the arrival of exotic sea snakes in California and the proliferation of invasive green crabs in Maine.

"In the winter, [humpbacks] migrate to calving grounds in subtropical or tropical waters, such as the Dominican Republic in the Atlantic and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific," scientists at the NOAA explain.

Hopefully, that's where this whale is headed now.