Blue Whales Sing Near NYC Coast

Experts have detected singing blue whales closer to the New York City coast than the endangered behemoths have ever been heard before, the Ithaca Journal reports. One of the whales was picked up by Cornell University bioacoustics experts recording just 70 miles from the city’s coastline. Scientists plan to adjust their equipment to listen for more of the whales, which are the world’s largest animal.

"Blue whales were almost hunted to extinction by the middle of the 20th century, and the fact that now we’re finding them migrating not far off our shores is truly remarkable," notes a state official, who added that the discovery would help scientists better protect the animals from accidents with marine vessels and debris as they move through US waters. (More whale stories.)