By The New York Times News Service Syndicate | wordpress@medianewsgroup.

Just before noon on a Sunday in October, passengers settled onto the upper deck of the American Princess, a 95-foot cruising vessel that departed from Sheepshead Bay in New York's Brooklyn borough, into the Atlantic Ocean in search of whales.

As conservation efforts make the waters in the New York region more inviting for whales, increasing traffic from ships and boats has contributed to a climbing number of strandings.