More whale sightings in Long Island Sound

Reports continue to come in of whales spotted in Long Island Sound.

Joseph Schnierlein, of the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut, said there appear to be at least two whales lingering in the area — a young about 25 feet long, and one bigger whale.

"You can see them in as little as 15-to-20 feet of water," he said. "They have not been shy about coming in close to shore."

Last year there was a "very unusual" abundance of whales in Long Island Sound, with a dozen sightings reported to the aquarium, said Schnierlein, the aquarium's research and university liaison. That included a humpback whale seen near Larchmont and New Rochelle.

This summer the whales are back to feast on a plentiful supply of fish, with three sightings reported to the aquarium between New Rochelle and Norwalk since Wednesday, he said.

Those sightings were likely all of humpbacks, he said, though he couldn't confirm that without photo or video evidence of each whale that's been spotted.

News reports also mentioned whale sightings off Darien and Greenwich over the weekend.

"There actually could be more whales out there," Schnierlein said.

The humpback whales arrived last year in part, Schnierlein said, because of the Atlantic menhaden, commonly known as bunker, which are small, schooling fish that are popular prey for the whales.

"They had great feeding [last year]," he said. "They're chasing phenomenal schools of menhaden."

WATCH: Humpback whale off New Rochelle

Maritime Aquarium has three whale sightings on the western Sound on file this year, all since Wednesday. That day three men set out from Norwalk to Darien to fish when they saw one or two whales, Schnierlein said. One whale disappeared under the waves, then a whale quickly emerged on the other side of their boat, so there may have been two whales there, he said.

On Thursday a humpback whale was photographed breaching the water near New Rochelle. City resident Dan Rogers was fishing with some friends between the shore and Execution Rocks Light when he saw the whale rise from the waves around 1:30 p.m.

On Saturday, a man and his wife were on a boat mid-Sound between Ziegler's Cove in Darien and Northport, Long Island, when they saw two whales, Schnierlein said.

After Thursday's sighting in New Rochelle, the Coast Guard sent out a radio transmission to alert boaters to stay at least 100 yards away from the whale. On Monday the Coast Guard had no further information on local whale sightings.

Schnierlein said boaters should be on the lookout for large schools of menhaden, which could mean that whales are nearby. A net of bubbles typically forms around a school of menhaden before whales shoot up in the center of the net to snatch the fish, he said. Boaters should steer clear of those circles of bubbles to avoid clipping the whales.

Anyone who sees whales on the Sound is urged to contact Schnierlein so the aquarium can track their presence. Officials try to gather as many details as they can, such as the size of the whales, how many there were, where they were seen and what kind of whales they are.

Schnierlein can be reached at jschnierlein@maritimeaquarium.org or 203-852-0700, extension 2352

Twitter: @MattSpillane