Humpback whales are the city's latest gentrifiers, moving into waterways previously only inhabited by striped bass and garbage.
The number of whales seen in the Atlantic near the Rockaway peninsula has spiked dramatically, with 106 sightings this year alone, the BBC reports. In 2012, there were only 15 whale sightings, and 33 in 2013.
"It is truly remarkable, within miles of the Empire State Building, to have one of the largest and most charismatic species ever to be on this planet," Howard Rosenbaum, director of the Ocean Giants program at the Wildlife Conservation Society told the network.
Researchers are unsure why whales have suddenly chosen to inhabit the city, though they posit it has something to do either with an increase in available food, or the high cost of rent forcing them from more desirable parts of the ocean.
Asked whether it was concerned with the influx of trust fund whales changing the culture of the waterways, one animate garbage patch tells us that there's room for everyone. "There are definitely more artisanal menhaden spots than there were before, and crime is way down," it said. "I'm rent-stabilized, so if it starts to get too pricey, I'll just rent out my spot on Airbnb and head elsewhere—Queens is totally over anyway."
