October 29, 2018 — One of the smallest, oddest and least-studied fishes in Long Island Sound may be playing a role in attracting one of the world’s largest ocean creatures to the waters along Connecticut’s coastline.

The tiny fish is called a northern sand lance or sand eel, and experts say it could be one of the reasons why massive humpback whales have returned to the Sound in recent years.

Sand lances, at 3 to 6 inches in length, are true fish but look like little silvery eels. They are also a favorite food of humpbacks, which can reach up to 60 feet in length and weigh as much as 40 tons.

“Most people don’t even know their name,” David Wiley, the research coordinator for the Stellwagon Bank National Marine Sanctuary off Cape Cod, said of sand lances. “But they’re extremely important.”

After many decades of absence, humpbacks returned to the Sound beginning in 2015 and at least a few have been recorded feeding in the waters between Connecticut and Long Island or off New London every year since.

Marine scientists believe the sand lance is far from the only reason why humpbacks have been returning to the Sound. They point out that other prey species favored by humpbacks, including menhaden and herring, have also been on the increase in the waters off Connecticut’s shoreline and are likely key to the humpbacks’ return.

Read the full story at the Hartford Courant