+
popular

New York City was visited by nine different whales in one day and the photos are amazing

New York’s harbors are the cleanest they’ve been in over 100 years.

whales new york

This is postcard-worthy.

People often pay to go on whale watching tours in hopes of mayyyyybe catching a single glimpse of a tail splashing the water—if they’re lucky.

On August 13, however, folks in New York City got the whale watching cruise of a lifetime as they were able to witness not one, not two, but NINE whales swimming in the harbor.

While onboard a tour with American Princess Cruises, Celia Ackerman, who works as a naturalist for the company, captured multiple breathtaking photos of the creatures with a view of New York’s skyline as the backdrop.

Here’s just one of the beauties:

gotham whales twitter, 9 whales new yorkGorgeous!All images taken by Celia Ackerman, used with permission from Gotham Whale

Ackerman is also a research associate for Gotham Whale, a marine mammal research, education and advocacy organization. Gotham Whale tweeted the images not only to let others join in on nature’s spectacle, but also to raise awareness and avoid potential collisions.

“Amazing day to say the least,” Gotham Whale’s caption read.

This once-in-a-lifetime sighting might be less of a miracle and more a result of concerted efforts to clean New York’s waters. Back in 2019, the New York Post cited a study that showed New York’s harbors were the purest they’ve been in nearly 110 years, not since “Albert Einstein had just published his theory of relativity,” according to the Post article. This was largely due to the Clean Water Act of 1972, in addition to volunteer environmental groups, according to the article.

Cleaner water means more fish, and more fish means a whale buffet. Not to mention some amazing photos:

whales new york, new york harbor, gotham whales

Breach incoming!

Celia Ackerman

“Something else to make your heart happy!” someone commented alongside a blue whale emoji.

whale sightings, whale cruise new york

What's not to love about this photo?

Celia Ackerman

This is the stuff fairy tales are made of y'all.

whales new york

Over-whale-mingly cool.

Celia Ackerman

Hands down, most successful whale watching cruise ever. No question.

new york harbor whales, cecilia ackerman twitter

One fish, two fish…

Celia Ackerman

These whales gave a water show and everything (see below):

gotham whales twitter

We're in the splash zone.

Celia Ackerman

There’s even a video of three breaching whales from the same day, shared by science and health reporter Aaron Tremper.

“I would’ve been screaming. This is so magical!” wrote one person.

Of course, the new-and-improved coastline is not only attracting whales. On August 8, 2022, two sharks were spotted off a beach in Queens, New York. And there were 15 shark sightings in one day the previous week, according to ABC7 New York. However, shark attacks are still quite rare.

I know what you’re thinking—where are the dolphins?! Don’t worry, Ackerman found some of those, too.

Like this Clymene dolphin below, whose most well-known party trick is spinning while jumping out of the water.

whale spotting new york, new york whales

He's auditioning for the "Flipper" reboot.

Celia Ackerman

These images come as a respite after the news that Freya, a walrus in Norway who captured hearts by sunbathing in various boats, was euthanized by authorities after being declared a “threat to human safety.” Her death was considered by many to be an avoidable act of cruelty, brought on by human negligence. However, the walrus named after a Norse goddess of love aptly still commands reverence by her followers, who have started a fundraiser to erect a statue in her honor.

We don’t always do right by our animal friends. But when we do, it shows. New York’s impromptu whale party is literal living proof of that. Finally, some good news about growing traffic!

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

Keep ReadingShow less

It's incredible what a double-sided magnet can do.


A new trend in treasure hunting called magnet fishing has blown up over the past two years, evidenced by an explosion of YouTube channels covering the hobby. Magnet fishing is a pretty simple activity. Hobbyists attach high-powered magnets to strong ropes, drop them into waterways and see what they attract.

The hobby has caught the attention of law enforcement and government agencies because urban waterways are a popular place for criminals to drop weapons and stolen items after committing a crime. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan pulled up an antique World War I mortar grenade and the bomb squad had to be called out to investigate.


Keep ReadingShow less
Pop Culture

Woman was mocked online for calling an $80 purse a 'luxury item.' Her response went viral.

"I'm so grateful that my dad was able to get me one. He worked so hard for that money.”

@zohtaco/TikTok

Zoe Gabriel, showing off her new purse from Charles & Keith

Insults of any kind are painful, but jabs towards someone’s financial status are their own breed.

In January 2023, Singapore-based Zoe Gabriel was on the receiving end of this particular flavor of mockery when she posted a TikTok about a purse from local retail brand Charles & Keith—a gift bought for her by her father.

In her excitement, the 17-year-old called the bag, which costs around $80, a “luxury” item as she unwrapped it. Her excitement was sadly cut short by some of the negative comments she received.

One comment seemed to stand out above the rest and prompted Gabriel to post an emotional response video.

Keep ReadingShow less

Ring doorbell video captures what it's like to be the default parent.

Kids, man. I'm not sure of the scientific way audacity is distributed, but kids have a lot of it and somehow make it cute. That audacity overload is especially interesting when you're the default parent—you know, the parent kids go to for literally everything as if there's not another fully capable adult in the house. Chances are if your children haven't sought you out while you were taking a shower so you could open up a pack of fruit snacks, then you're not the default parental unit.

One parent captured exactly what it's like to be the default parent and shared it to TikTok, where the video has over 4 million views. Toniann Marchese went on a quick grocery run and *gasp* did not inform her children. Don't you fret, they're modern kids who know how to use modern means to get much-needed answers when mom is nowhere to be found. They went outside and rang the doorbell.

Back when we were children, this would've done nothing but make the dogs bark, but for Marchese's kids, who are 3 and 6 years old, it's as good as a phone call.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pop Culture

'American Idol' contestant has perfect response to Katy Perry's 'mom-shaming' joke

The 25-year-old used the moment to stand up for moms everywhere.

@sarabethliebe/TikTok

"Keep loving your babies."

You might recall us singing the praises of Sara Beth, the exuberant young mom with major vocal chops dubbed the “Accidental American Idol.”

During Sara Beth’s initial audition for the show, judge Katy Perry made a joke that rubbed many viewers the wrong way.

Before Sara Beth even began to sing, the 25-year-old revealed that she had three children, which prompted Katy Perry to dramatically stand up from her seat and feign shock. When Sara Beth, all smiles, said, “If Katy lays on the table, I think I’m going to pass out,” Perry retorted, “Honey, you’ve been laying on the table too much.”

Keep ReadingShow less

YouTube creator Steve Mould shows us what echo looks like through an acoustic camera.

It’s bizarre to think about seeing sound, but nowadays we can do just that. If you haven’t seen an acoustic camera before, that’s because they’re mainly used for industrial purposes, but they’ve been available commercially from gfai tech since 2001.

YouTuber Steve Mould, who has a science channel with over 2.1 million subscribers, took the complicated concept of the acoustic camera and made it easy to understand in his latest video, “Acoustic cameras can SEE sound.”

In the video, Mould explains how an acoustic camera is much like your smartphone's video recorder. But it also creates visual representations of sound emanating from where it’s generated within the video.

Keep ReadingShow less