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Yesterday, WNBC's Chopper 4 captured footage of a minke whale swimming in the Gowanus Canal Bay. Minke whales are a suborder of baleen whales, which rise to the surface the way this whale does.
Chopper 4 reporter Dan Rice told us, "It was hard to see the whale under water because it is so brown. But about every 60 to 90 seconds it would surface for air and dive again." He added, "Almost looked like it was playing with the Coast Guard zodiac." [Zodiac is a kind of boat.] Cute, except given Gowanus Lounge's belief that sewage has seeped into the canal post-Nor'easter, we're worried. And, in a clear tribute to Carvel's Fudgie the Whale as well as the Gowanus's conditions, the Daily News (and NY1) calls this whale "Sludgie."
The Riverhead Foundation's rescue program director Kim Durham says, "This is definitely not a place for a whale to be," and adds that they will continue monitoring Sludgie's behavior. She also asks people to call 631-369-9829 if the whale is seen outside the Gowanus.
John Quadrozzi, who spotted a harp seal in 2003 (battered and bloodied, yet still alive, in the Gowanus), was the first to spot the whale. He told Newsday, "Originally, we thought he was a porpoise. Then we could see he was much bigger." His 5-year-old daughter had her opinion: "She said, 'There's no whales in the water, Daddy.' Then it came up. She can go tell people she was whale watching in Brooklyn." Indeed - the Daily News reported others turned to catch a glimpse - did you?
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I'd better get down to the Gowanus ... as soon as I find a harpoon.
that reminds me, i need to buy a fudgie the whale for mother's day.
Unfortunately, Gowanus Lounge's "belief that sewage has seeped into the canal post-Nor'easter" is a disgusting fact. Most of NYC uses a combined sewer system--during periods of little or no rain, both sanitary and stormwater sewage are processed by the water filtration plants before being discharged into the waters surrounding NYC. During periods of heavy rain, there is not enough capacity at the filtration plants to process the additional stormwater sewage, and it is impossible to separate the sanitary sewage from the stormwater sewage because they run through the lines together. Both the sanitary and stormwater sewage are discharged, unfiltered, into the surrounding waters. This is part of the reason that you might notice a funk in the air for a few days after a heavy rainstorm.
A few months ago, Riverkeeper* issued a report on this issue entitled "Sustainable Raindrops: Cleaning New York Harbor by Greening the Urban Landscape".
*I don't work for Riverkeeper; I learned about this issue in a Waterfront Planning class that I took in grad school last semester.
Are we sure its not Borough president Marty Markowitz takin a dip?
Actually, it was the Daily News that dubbed it Sludgie. NY1 picked up on it today -- and misspelled Sludgie twice in its Web edition.
"She also asks people to call 631-369-9829 if the whale is seen outside the Gowanus."
I love that - so I should give a call if I see the whale shopping at Lowe's or heading into the Issue Project room?
I saw Sludgie playing bocce at Union Hall.
#[4] Lol, It might be ! Dude needs to drop few pounds (In tens)