{"id":910312,"date":"2026-07-03T17:57:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T17:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/910312\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T17:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T17:57:19","slug":"video-endangered-fin-whale-seen-feeding-off-coast-of-long-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/910312\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Endangered fin whale seen feeding off coast of Long Island"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"sub-text\">A massive fin whale was caught on drone video feeding off the coast of Long Island. Fin whales are the second-largest species of whale and are endangered. Drone operator Virginia Fitzgerald said this is the first fin whale she&#8217;s ever encountered.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\"><strong>HAMPTON BAYS, N.Y.\u2013<\/strong> A massive, endangered fin whale was caught on drone video swimming and feeding off the coast of Long Island, <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/new-york\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">New York<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">Fin whales are the second-largest whale species on Earth, and they&#8217;re fast swimmers, making it difficult to catch a glimpse of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/lifestyle\/video-massive-great-white-shark-feeds-dead-whale-rhode-island\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>VIDEO: MASSIVE GREAT WHITE SHARK FEEDS ON DEAD WHALE OFF THE COAST OF RHODE ISLAND<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">Video from Wednesday off <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/local-weather\/new-york\/hampton-bays\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Hampton Bays<\/a>, shows a large fin whale, with its long sleek body, V-shaped head and trademark hooked dorsal fin on its back.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"668\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/screenshot-2026-07-03-at-9.39.17-am.png\" alt=\"The fin whale is endangered after commercial whaling in the mid-1900s. \"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">The fin whale is endangered after commercial whaling in the mid-1900s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"sub-text\"><strong> (\u00a0Virginia Fitzgerald\/@visualsbyvirginia via Storyful \/ FOX Weather)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">In the video, the drone kept up with the whale as it swam, diving in and out of water in search of food.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">Drone operator Virginia Fitzgerald said she discovered the whale while watching a humpback whale feed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/earth-space\/highest-number-north-atlantic-right-whale-calves-17-years\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>HIGHEST NUMBER OF NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE CALVES RECORDED IN 17 YEARS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">A pod of dolphins and seagulls joined the fin whale on its hunt.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"668\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/screenshot-2026-07-03-at-9.40.02-am.png\" alt=\"Dolphins and seagulls joined the whale for its fish hunt.\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Dolphins and seagulls joined the whale for its fish hunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"sub-text\"><strong> (\u00a0Virginia Fitzgerald\/@visualsbyvirginia via Storyful \/ FOX Weather)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">In one clip, the whale opens its massive jaws, scooping in water and some source of food, most likely krill, small schooling fish or squid, according to <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/species\/fin-whale\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NOAA Fisheries<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">Fin whales are endangered after decades of whaling significantly reduced their populations in the mid-1900s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"668\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/screenshot-2026-07-03-at-9.38.46-am.png\" alt=\"Fin whale opening its mouth to feed off the coast of Long Island on July 1, 2026.\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">Fin whale opening its mouth to feed off the coast of Long Island on July 1, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"sub-text\"><strong> (\u00a0Virginia Fitzgerald\/@visualsbyvirginia via Storyful \/ FOX Weather)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">They&#8217;re protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">Today, the primary threat to fin whales is vessel strikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/earth-space\/alaskan-cruise-ship-pulls-up-dock-dead-endangered-pregnant-whale\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>DEAD, PREGNANT ENDANGERED FIN WHALE FOUND ON BOW OF ALASKA CRUISE SHIP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">&#8220;Fin whales are probably the most vulnerable species to ship strikes after North Atlantic Right Whales,&#8221; <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/noaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NOAA<\/a> FIsheries said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"668\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/screenshot-2026-07-03-at-9.38.24-am.png\" alt=\"The fin whale hunts for food.\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"title\">The fin whale hunts for food.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"sub-text\"><strong> (\u00a0Virginia Fitzgerald\/@visualsbyvirginia via Storyful \/ FOX Weather)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">In mid-June, a cruise ship in <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/alaska\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alaska<\/a> was seen carrying the body of a pregnant, dead fin whale across its bow.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/how-to-watch-fox-weather-on-tv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><strong>HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">Early estimations believe the whale was hit by the cruise ship.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-438398f6=\"\">The most recent stock assessments of fin whale populations completed in 2016 estimated there were roughly 6,800 fin whales along the Atlantic coast of the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">U.S.<\/a> and <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fxw_earth-space_article_main-content_article-body_2_12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/canada\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A massive fin whale was caught on drone video feeding off the coast of Long Island. Fin whales&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":910313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[27],"tags":[3425,14079,1759,405,12461,936,159,67,132,68,837],"class_list":["post-910312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-beaches","tag-nature","tag-new-york","tag-noaa","tag-ocean","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116857343193882197","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}