Capt. James Schneider, who owns James Joseph Fishing, was running a boat with more than 40 passengers on a fishing trip when they spotted a trio of whales feeding in the Long Island Sound in the vicinity of Huntington at around 12:30 pm on Saturday.

As per reports, the whales hit their tails on the water and were "bubble net feeding", where they disorient and direct fish schools upward by blowing bubbles prior to eating them. According to Schneider, it appeared that the whales were endangered humpbacks.

Schneider said he knew some things about whales and the whales that he saw earlier were definitely humpbacks. Humpback whales can grow as much as 60 feet long, with characteristically long flippers.

They are usually found in Massachusetts, but their existence in Long Island Sound was surprising, Schneider said. He hasn't spotted any in the Sound since he began his commercial fishing business nearly 27 years ago.

According to the spokeswoman of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, Rachel Bosworth, the foundation has not got any calls from the public regarding the whales. However, officials are asking people to mail those photos and videos to them.

Bosworth wrote in an email, "Whales are common in New York waters, however we do not get many reports from the public of whales in Long Island Sound. We think this particular whale is being spotted because of the food source out here".

Schneider said that on Saturday, he and his crew postponed their fishing trip and tracked the whales east, staying nearly 100 yards back, for some time.