NEW YORK — A safety zone is being enforced around the area where an entangled whale was spotted in Raritan Bay on Saturday.

A Good Samaritan was the first to spot what is believed to be a humpback whale in Raritan Bay, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is responsible for establishing the safety zone around the area where the whale was spotted, with help from State Police.

Boaters are asked to keep an eye out for the whale and top stay back after State Police reported the whale submerged around 2:30 p.m., and was not located after a 30 minute search.

It is not the first time the whale has been spotted in the bay between Monmouth County and New York City.

Photograher Artie Raslich wrote on his blog that he spotted the humpback, which had a rope wrapped around and inside its mouth with a red & black buoy attached, on June 22. The whale had the same entanglement last year, according to the blog, and takes very shallow breaths, which create shallow blows.

“Safeguarding our waterways and marine ecosystem is the foundation to all of the Coast Guard’s missions – this includes the marine life that inhabits the waters of New York and New Jersey,” Capt. Jason Tama, commander of Coast Guard Sector New York said in a statement.

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