New York Harbor whale strike sinks fire rescue boat after July 4 celebrations

A surfacing whale struck a New Jersey fire department boat Friday, forcing firefighters to abandon the vessel as it returned from a July 4 marine security assignment in New York Harbor, officials said. The Carteret Fire Department said Marine Unit 2 was returning to Carteret waters around 4:30 p.m. Friday after assisting with a regional special operations marine security detail in the New York/New Jersey Port area when a whale breached beneath the vessel's stern near the mouth of Raritan Bay. Th