Majestic humpback whale leaps through NYC waters to mark 500th recorded in area since 2012: ‘Really inspiring and amazing’

He’s making a splash.

A majestic humpback whale lunged and breached off the coast of Coney Island this past weekend — marking the 500th member of the special species to be recorded frolicking in the city’s waves since 2012.

The whale — deemed a new sighting based on its distinctive fluke — put on a spectacular show for onlookers to celebrate the milestone, which experts say is a clear indicator that the Big Apple’s waters are growing cleaner and more stable for wildlife.

“It’s really inspiring and amazing that New York City is offering these animals — that are finding challenging situations elsewhere — a place to thrive, that New York City, a place where we’ve associated with not very clean water and not with a vibrant ecosystem, is becoming a lifeline for 500 humpback whales that have been passing through our waters over the last decade or so,” said Chris St. Lawrence of the advocacy group Gotham Whale to The Post.

Whales are identified by their tails, and the unique scarring on the fluke of the weekend mammal, dubbed “NYC0500,” allowed the activists to add it to the New York City Humpback Whale Catalog as lucky No. 500.

The estimated 1-year-old humpback was first spotted frolicking around the Sail 4th 250 festivities in Sandy Hook, NJ, but it wasn’t until July 28 that researchers got a clear glimpse of its rear tail and confirmed it was a new visitor.

And the news gets better — the juvenile whale appears to be healthy, thriving and hungry.

“We saw a small whale that was really intent on feeding. It was spending a lot of time below the surface, for the most part. But then we also saw some of those lunge feeds where it comes up out of the water,” St. Lawrence said.

“These animals are here to put on weight, especially those juveniles. They’re looking to get as much food as possible to grow as quickly as possible, to put on those fat layers so that if they want to, they can migrate back down south for the winter.”

NYC0500’s entry into the catalog is a sign that humpback whale populations have become a major part of the city’s marine ecosystem.

The NYCHWC has been recording as many as 100 new whales in the New York Harbor and surrounding waterways since 2018 — a significant surge from the 10 to 30 that were recorded annually when it was created in 2012.

It’s also an indicator that Big Apple waters are growing increasingly cleaner, inviting bunker fish and other smaller fish to swim in the waves.

Warming oceans also mean that the city’s waterways are becoming more hospitable for the massive creatures.

Humpbacks aren’t the only whales that have been making the Big Apple home — endangered North Right Whales have been spotted swimming through the Port of New York and New Jersey in the past year.

A pod of fin whales also soared near Brooklyn in June, inspiring Gotham Whale to start its second species catalog dedicated to the massive cetacean.

But the increase in marine life could mean higher instances of ship collisions, researchers warned, urging boaters to reduce their speeds and keep clear of them.

The New York legislature unanimously passed the Whale Awareness Act, which directs New York agencies to develop marine mammal interaction prevention recommendations — a pending law still awaiting final action by Gov. Kathy Hochul.