We depend on you, our Community Scientists.

It takes a village.

Attention: boaters, kayakers, fishermen, scuba divers, sailors, beachgoers, mariners, coastal residents, and photographers — Gotham Whale relies on your help with our Citizen Science Project!


When you're near or on the water in the New York Bight, keep an eye out for marine mammals. If you spot a whale, dolphin, or seal, you can contribute to our research by reporting your sighting using the data collection form below. Please be as specific as possible; your detailed information is crucial for our database records and ongoing research efforts. Join us in protecting and understanding these incredible creatures!

Become a Community Scientist and join our WANTED project.

Community Science, sometimes also referred to as volunteer monitoring, amateur science, or crowdsourced science, increases the impact and reach of research projects by inviting the public to participate in data collection, analysis, or reporting. By allowing any curious or concerned person to join in, researchers gain the additional eyes, ears, or helping hands they need to make important scientific discoveries.

Our WANTED project enlists Community Scientists, like you, to record and report marine mammal sightings. Our research team analyzes each sighting to gather important information such as species, feeding behavior, or individual humpbacks. The data we collect becomes research publications, supports our advocacy initiatives, and help us keep New Yorkers informed about the marine mammals in our area.

When you see a whale, dolphin, or seal in the western NY bight just follow these steps to contribute to our marine mammal research:

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Take a picture or video of the animal.

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Take a picture or video of the animal.

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Take a picture or video of the animal.

Join us on the water

Gotham Whale is NYC's own whale research, education, and advocacy group! We partner with commercial whale watching vessels to collect data during their scheduled cruises. Support our mission and come for a cruise aboard the American Princess with Gotham Whale Membership.

Report a Sighting

Fill out the form below to report your whale, dolphin or seal sighting. We appreciate so much your contribution to the Gotham Whale WANTED project!

Note: Images and videos larger than 25MB must be sent to research@gothamwhale.org in a separate email. When sending, please note your name and phone number so that we can associate your sighting report with your photos/videos.

Disclaimer: Personal information is required to validate the contribution and will not be shared. In order to maintain our database, submitted photos or videos will become the property of Gotham Whale.

For marine mammals or sea turtles that are in distress please also contact:

New York

Atlantic Marine Conservation Society 631-317-0030

NY Marine Rescue 631-369-9840

New Jersey

Marine Mammal Stranding Center 609-266-0538

Sea Turtle Rescue 609-667-4076