Humpback Whale Spotted In Hudson River Next To Statue Of Liberty [Watch]

New York's iconic Statue of Liberty may be drawing fewer tourists these days due to the pandemic but it got a rare visitor this week. A huge humpback whale was sighted in the Hudson River on Monday, navigating through the clear waters just off New York Harbor near the heritage site.

The spectacular scene was filmed and shared on Twitter by @AndresJavierNYC. The giant marine mammal was caught in the video frolicking near New York City's Pier 84 near the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. The whale was spouting water from its blowhole as it made its way past the Empire State Building and other iconic sites off the harbor.

The U.S. Coast Guard reportedly confirmed that the whale was spotted in the river on Monday and Tuesday. It said it would only intervene if the whale got entangled or was imperiled, Reuters reported.

"We're aware, but it's pretty normal that we get whales out there," Petty Officer Anthony Pappaly told Reuters.

Gotham Whale, a marine education group, urged boaters to slow down to make way for the whale and keep an eye out for the marine animal in case it crossed their route.

Bjoern Kils, who took pictures of the whale, told NBC News that it was about 40 feet long. "The whale just blew about 1,000 feet off my bow!" Kils, 41, told the outlet.

Kils, an Emmy-Award-nominated photographer and owner of New York Media Boats, which transports tourists and news crews to the city, told the outlet that he spotted the whale near Ellis Island. He urged boaters to give the whale a wide berth so that it can safely swim through the Narrows tidal strait between Staten Island and Brooklyn and back into the Atlantic Ocean.

"It's a bit of a silver lining with COVID-19 that there's not much boat traffic out here, and the whale has a very good chance of getting out into the ocean," Kils told NBC News.

Whale sightings have been increasingly common in recent years near New York's shoreline, mainly due to the cleaner water and abundance of food sources, according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreations.