Thursday Sept 5th, I went to Brooklyn to go on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. The sea conditions – NE winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 5 ft, occasionally to 6 ft. Wave Detail: SE 5 ft at 9 seconds. Air temp 73. WOW what a difference a day makes, it was choppy!
We pushed out of sheepshead bay made the turn around the Breezy Point Jetty, THE other END of Long Island and made our way east. Capt. Tom at the helm with Capt. Jack, Christine and Kim working the boat and tending to the customers. It did not take long to see our first whale and it was an epic first encounter, we were greeted with a massive breach. Matter of fact if we did not see the breach and massive splash, we might have passed the whale. The whale did a few more breaches and started to subsurface feed. The Bunker was not snapping on the surface, but you could still see the groups of bunkers in the water, but they were 5-10 feet under the water. There were other blows seen but we stayed with this whale. It was zigzagging all around the boat dealing with the choppy sea. The whale was Very very close at times and actually went directly under the boat. And popped up on the other side half under the boat and half not. The whale did some cool moves like it kept sticking its rostrum (the upper jaw or snout of a whale). We were talking about if the whale was doing a very low to the water spy hop, maybe, but do not know. The seas were getting bigger, the whale started to rest, and we went on our way.
Had a great trip out on the AP with Gotham Whale we saw one humpback. A big thank you to the Capt. Tom and Capt. Frank and the crew of the American Princess for a safe and amazing whale watch. Try to get out to Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay and get on this whale watch before they shut down in Mid-November.
The AP pushed off with Gotham Whale at Noon and returned around 345p. The weather was perfect with low humidity, 80 degrees with W winds 5 to 10 kt, becoming S late. Seas around 0-1 ft. Wave Detail: S 1 ft at 5 seconds and SE 1 ft at 9 seconds.
The whale watch started before we pushed off. There were a few baby Cownose Rays swimming around the AP at the dock. We pushed off and Capt. Frank with is trusted crew of spotter’s headed out of lower NY harbor, past the Breezy Point Jetty and wow what a sight the ocean was flat! You could see any disturbance on the water miles away.
We came upon hundreds and hundreds of dolphins. Actually, for the whole entire trip Dolphins where everywhere you looked. There were many dolphin calf’s, juvenile dolphins, pregnant Mom’s, and something we normally do not see, offshore Dolphins were in the mix. These Offshore Dolphins are huge! Generally, these offshore dolphins reach lengths around 10 to 14 feet and weigh over 1,000 pounds. Compared to inshore Dolphins who are much smaller. The dolphins were in a playful mood and started surfing the back wake of the American Princess as we moved on looking for whales. It did not take long for us to met up with a humpback and what we saw was spectacular.
The whale and dolphin pod started playing with each other. They were going at it! The Dolphins were all over this whale and the whale was loving it. The whale inverted and swam upside-down pectoral fin slapping along the water while the dolphins were interacting with the whale. It did a spy hop, a small tail throw and then started lunge feeding. The bait started to surface so the whale did a few feedings and then went back to playing with the dolphins. We saw another blow and went to check out the whale. As we traveled the dolphins were riding the APs wake giving a show. We saw two other whales this day for a total of 4 whales and 500+ Dolphins, baby Cownose Rays, a small sea turtle. A great day out on the American Princess Cruises.
You need to get out and go whale watching! Get out on the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale and see what is out there.
Conditions - SW winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 5 ft and building. Wave Detail: S 5 ft at 8 seconds with a wind 2-3ft chop on top. Visibility 1 to 3 nm with a haze, air temp 88, water temp 70ish.
The whale watch started off at the dock before pushing off, a bunch of Baby Cownose Rays were around the boat. We pushed off and charged out of Sheepshead Bay, passing through Rockaway Inlet and met up with the whales as soon as we hit our destination. On the way out we saw so many Cownose Rays, a small shark, and a few turtles.
A big tail throw was the first interaction followed by some really good lunge feedings. 3 Whales were around the boat at one point with other blows way off in the distance. One of the whales off in the distance did a spectacular breach, the splash was like 20-30 feet high and the slap from the whales crashing on the surface sounded like an explosion, it was impressive. The boat was rocky due to ocean conditions, so I missed the breach and the tail throw but overall, did well capturing a few close passes and lunge feedings. As we exited the 3 whales, we came upon one more humpback zigzagging back and forth subsurface and lunge feeding. Time was up, we motored back to Pier 3 in Sheepshead Bay.
A great trip out on the American Princess Cruises today, 4 whales (probably 7 with blows seen way off in the distance), many rays, a shark, and some turtles.
Click on the name to go to the Facebook pages for Gotham Whale and the American Princess Cruises. If you want to see this action live, with the NYC skyline as a backdrop, go here, scroll down to the bottom and book a trip on the American Princess Whale Watch, the first NYC Whale Watch.
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Pictures tell it all.
Click on the name to follow the American Princess Cruises and Gotham Whale or go here and book your trip
Sea and air conditions: SW winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 2 to 3 ft. Wave detail: S 3 ft at 7 second, water temp 70 degrees, Sunny, low humidity and 82 degrees
Capt. Frank DeSantis at the helm, the AP Crew was Capt. Jack and Chris. Celia as Naturalist. Gotham Whale – Beth, Celia, and me.
Today was a very good day. We met up with a few feeding Dolphins that moved away quickly. But the dolphin brought us to the coolest sight to see, a giant school of roving Drum Fish. The school size was impressive, and the Drum Fish were BIG! The school was moving east to west, and we stayed to observe them for a few moments. We saw a blow and we went to check it out. When in motion Cow nose Rays were seen throughout the whole day. It’s a quick interaction with the Rays as they dive down rapidly, we saw many rays this day.
We saw the blow again and met up with first whale. The whale was subsurface feeding and staying down for a good time each time. The whale surfaced close to the back of the AP and put on a quick show with a powerful tail throw into some pectoral slaps. Then the whale went back to subsurface feeding. We saw another blow off in the distance, left this whale to feed on its own and we moved on. We met up with the next whale, but it was not one whale it was two. Wow, two whales swimming together. They did a few synchronized deep dives together as they were sub surface feeding together. Gotham Whale knows that this pair of humpbacks, the two whales have been seen in the area together for 6 days or so. We got lucky they are still hanging out together.
The bunker fish were starting to ball up on the surface and the lunge feeding started to happen – tandem lunge feeding! These whales went at it for a good amount of time, they gave us a great show. We were South and had to travel back to get in on time. In transit back we saw another humpback but did not stop. Almost back to the inlet we came across a very big pod of Dolphins, they were everywhere. And last but not least – we were almost in and saw that same school of Drum fish.
A very good day out on the water. 4 Humpbacks (two humpbacks tandem Lunge feeding), 150+ Dolphins, a giant school of Drum Fish, 100’s of Cownose Rays was seen.
Get out on the waters of the NY Bight and see this for yourself. Book a trip on the American Princess Cruises out of Sheepshead Bay you will not be disappointed. Check out Gotham Whales website and Gotham Whale Facebook page.
Tip – when going on a boat and you “might” get seasick, please for your sake, plan ahead. Get Bonine or other seasickness treatments in your system to prevent nausea, vomiting and dizziness caused by motion sickness. Seasickness is preventable read here. Artie Raslich Photography | Seasickness is preventable.
We went out of Breezy and came upon a solo humpback. It looked to be subsurface feeding. I really like this whale! It has a very special way it dives down. It takes a series of breaths and on its big dive the whale uses its pectoral fins for an extra push down. It looks like the whale is doing the breaststroke throwing water onto the back of the whale, they really get into it and its funny. Seeing whales all the time, seeing stuff like this makes it interesting. It is a weird way to dive so all photos taken were looked at in detail. Maybe the whale has a problem with an entanglement or was hurt previously and has healed? Well in all the photos I shot, there is no ropes, or anything attached to the whale that I saw. The whale has a few scars but nothing that screams out massive ship strike (many variables here). Knowing that that most whales out there have been hit by boat/s to some degree and they have been entangled before. The whale went on doing its thing and we moved on to find another whale. The second whale was actively subsurface feeding, we watched him/her for a while grabbing a few fluke shots and we called it a day.
We did see about three Thresher shark breaches; one breach was spectacular. It is very hard, you need to be very lucky to get a photo of a thresher shark breaching, it is so unpredictable. Also, Cownose Rays are starting to be seen in the area.
As always Captain Tom Paladino from the American Princess got us on the action. Try to get out on the AP and see what is out there. Great day out on the water 2 Humpbacks, 3 Threshers, a few Cownose Rays were seen.
]]>The AP ran east out of Breezy; it was quiet at first. Someone screamed “3pm, two whales together”. We got a whale watch! These two whales went from not being seen to non-stop lunge and sub surface feeding. There was bait in the area, and everything was hitting the bait balls at the same time including Striped Bass, Blues and Sharks.
I captured a few amazing photos on this AP Whale watch.
One is a sequence of photos of one of these whale’s lunge feeding. The photos were taken far away from the lunge feeding. So, when cropped in, the photos are not tack sharp or of quality but document the event. A humpback whale lunge feeding on a Menhaden bait ball and throwing a Striped Bass Cow out of the water!
The other is a lunge feeding humpback with the JetBlue “NY JETS” painted aircraft called JetGreen coming in for a landing at JFK. "JetGreen" was put in service in 2010 and is the first sports themed aircraft to join JetBlue's growing fleet. GO NY JETS! Hahaha...
The rest of the photos from the trip.
We had a great day out on the American Princess whale watch. Capt. Frank along with the crew; Thomas, Jack, Mitch, and Chris along with Celia as naturalist made sure everyone was happy and saw whales. As always, a job well done by the crew. Get out on the AP and see this stuff for yourself! Sightings today – Two humpback Whales.
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NYC0323 was a young female humpback whale that Gotham Whale first catalogued in July 2023. She was documented 11 times since then, and every single one of our whale watching contributors had seen her at some point this year. The last time that NYC0323 was seen alive was when she was feeding inside Sandy Hook Channel, a mere 48 hours prior to being found floating off Rockaway. The loss of any humpback whale is devastating, but the loss of a whale that we have seen alive and feeding so many times is heartbreaking. Please help us to advocate for stronger protections for humpback whales against ship strikes in New York and New Jersey.
In these photos the AMSEAS team, directed by NOAA fisheries are doing a necropsy on this Juvenile Femail Humpback Whale that washed up on Beach 9th in Far Rockaway. This is a horrible job to perform; it is very hot on the beach, smelly, messy, physically challenging and it is a thankless job! So thank you AMSEAS!!
AMSEA's just released the preliminary Necropsy findings: Preliminary necropsy findings for the subadult 33-foot long female revealed extensive bruising to the right side of the body consistent with suspect vessel strike. There was distinctive scarring noted around the animal’s peduncle consistent with a previous entanglement, although this was not thought to be related to this stranding event. The animal was found to be in robust body condition with evidence of recent feeding.
It is hard to watch all these Humpback Whales washing up dead on NY/NJ beaches. There are reasons why this is happening, I don’t know the exact causes. People are on the fence with the subject. Politicians are taking sides. Big Oil’s views it one-way, clean energy is taking another stance. What I do know it is 100% our fault these whales are dying. As always, it is us to blame. I’m sure, in the end, the whales’ deaths have to do with someone making money and the whales are paying with their lives.
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Conditions were very good. 80 degrees, partly cloudy with 2-4ft waves with 10knt winds. Halfway through the trip the winds dropped down, so did the seas and the clouds clear up. Great conditions, especially for Montauk.
The sightings started off before we left the dock in Lake Montauk. There were a few Grey Seals floating around right behind the Viking. Very cool to see the grey seals especially in the month of July. The Viking pushed off at 2pm and went past the Montauk light house and went looking for whales, any kind of whale. Out in Montauk they can see Finbacks and Humpbacks along with Inshore and offshore dolphins. We came upon a small pod of inshore bottlenose dolphins with a few whales in the mix off the Point. The Dolphins and the humpbacks were subsurface feeding together. The bait was down around the 25ft mark, and the depth was in the 80ft range. The crazy part with the dolphins was as we watched the dolphins feed, they grew in numbers. It went from like 40 dolphins to like 250-300 dolphins in all directions. We stayed for a bit and saw some other blows off in the distance and went to investigate. We met up with a mother and Calf. The size difference of their bodies was drastic, that baby whale was so small compared to its mom. You can see the mom was teaching the calf how to feed and to eventually survive on its own. They were doing synchronized swimming and diving, it was cute. We moved on but not too far away and came upon a very big congregation of large humpbacks. First it was 6 whales, that grew to 9 and we lost count at like 14 humpback whales. They were all around the boat, spouts everywhere you looked.
Very big whales out in Montauk! They are adult whales with some known whales documented by CRESLI to be 38 years old to 42+ years old. Compared to the Western NY Bight whales which are mostly juvenile and young adult with very few adult whales. But as time goes by, the western Bight will probably see more adults (as the juveniles get older).
Our time was up, we left the whales and went back to the dock. Had a great day out on the Viking with CRESLI and Artie K. Marine Mammal count - 14 plus Humpbacks, 250-300 Dolphins and a few Grey Seals. If you get a chance to do a day trip to Montauk to go out on the Viking with CRESLI, they go out on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Great day out on the American Princess this past Sunday, July 02. Sea conditions; ESE winds 10 to 15 kts. Seas 2 to 4 ft SE swell at 7 seconds. Water is warm 67-72 degrees. Captain Tom and the crew did a great job locating 3 humpbacks and 40ish dolphins.
We headed out of Breezy Point and quickly we were on a small pod of very playful dolphins. They were splashing, jumping, and chasing each other all over the area. Some actions looked like play, some not, but it was a show none the less.
We headed south and met up with an active feeding humpback whale. We saw many good lunge feedings, a tail throw, a few flukes, and lots of close passes. Two other whales were in the area, but we stayed with the active one.
The photos tell the story…check them out.
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Conditions were good. The waves were 1ft-3ft. The winds were light and variable with no chop but some texture on the water. Temps in the mid 70’s. A little chill in the air with the water temp around 57-61 degrees.
We headed out of Breezy and as soon as we turned the corner from Lower New York Bay and Breezy jetty into the Atlantic Ocean...IT WAS ON! Dolphins were the show. They were in the shallow waters but past the break. They were all around with a few calves in the mix. We traveled with them for a bit hugging the shore when we saw a blow like 3000 yards away.
We headed towards the blow and it segwayed into three-whales. The Bunker bait fish was everywhere. In dark patches, on the surface and snapping away. We caught up with the humpbacks, the whales were separated by about 500 feet, each doing their own thing. In the beginning it was mostly sub surface feeding, why waste energy when you don’t have to. Then BAM…they let loose. Hitting the bunker schools from below with some awesome lunge feedings. They whales got closer and closer to each other and then were basically feeding together. Some lunge feeding others sub surface feeding. But, at times the whales were bubble net feeding. It is something we don’t really see too often. I am guessing because it’s not too deep here. When the bait fish are on the surface, snapping away they are so dense, bubble net feeding is not needed. But what do I know?
At times the whales were literally on top of each other very close to the boat and then branched off with one going deep, and two staying closer to the shore. One of the whales started giving us a show, while the other kept on feeding. The big show started off with a few very impressive breaches, into twisting back breaches followed by chin slaps and pectoral fin slaps. Twisting and turning its body, this whale did not get exhausted. It just kept going into non-stop tail slaps, first it was right side up and then upside down. Throwing in some very powerful tail throws. It was an impressive show! We would have stayed and watched this whale for hours, but we had to head back to the dock. As we drove away it kept on splashing about. WOW what an epic day whale watching with three very active Humpbacks and 100 dolphins seen.
If you want to see Whales and Dolphins in this area, I recommend the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale. If you are in Montauk on a Sunday or a Wednesday check out the Viking Fleet with CRESLI.
We arrived at the base of Lady Liberty. A few boats were in position ready for the sendoff and others were in transit. Vessels in attendance: American Princess Cruises, NYPD Harbor Patrol, FDNY Boat, NY Media Boats, Bayonne Golf Club Boat, Statue City Cruises Miss Freedom and Miss New Jersey, NY Water Taxi Marian Heiskell and another, NY Ferry Signs To Liberty and another, Tow Boat U.S. Jacob Miller, The Staten Island Ferry and a few private boats.
The AP had setup a PA system and Capt. Tom Paladino presented a memorial, here are his words.
“Good morning!
I would like to thank you all for coming today to honor a legendary captain, a great man and my dear friend Captain Marty Haines. I had the pleasure of knowing Captain Marty for over 50 years. Our fathers were both stationed in the Pacific during World War II When the war ended, they both returned home, bought boats and started a fishing business. Marty’s dad in Perth Amboy, NJ and mine in Gerritsen Beach Brooklyn. Marty and I both grew up on the boat and got our captain’s license in the 60’s. We spoke on the CB radio everyday and formed a friendship that lasted until his passing on August 7, 2022. Through hard work and dedication Marty grew to be one of finest fisherman on the coast. He was respected and admired by everyone in the industry. Marty worked year-round to keep his boats impeccable. To put it simply, Boats were Marty’s life. Around the year 2000, he sold his boat and started the next chapter in his career working as a captain for New York Water Taxi. Marty’s incredible work ethic earned him number 1 captain at NYWT in no time at all. If any of the boats needed to be painted Marty was their man. He would assemble a team and get the job done. Perfectly and on time.
One memory that stands out, is a great story that I would like to share with you today, Marty was known around Water taxi for putting in long hours of hard work. One day, a great guy named Sequan Bush who we lost to covid much too early. signed up to work with Marty to pain the Seymour Durst. Sequan told me that he went to bed early the night before so that he could keep up with Marty. They arrived at the shipyard on a cold morning at around 6:00 am and began painting. He and Sequan worked all day until the sun went down. Just as it got dark and it was difficult to see, Marty put down his paintbrush and walked towards his car. Sequan was cold and tired but so proud of himself that he actually kept up with the legend Captain Marty a man more than twice his age. But then he watched as Marty got in his car, started the engine, drove toward the boat and put the headlights on so he could see. Marty got out of the car, turned to Sequan and said, “Mix another batch of Paint”. Saquan later told me in a way that only he could, “Captain Tom, I cried like a baby”.
Marty also worked on this boat the American Princess, painting it from bow to stern, doing the job with precision and pride, every year. Marty was a complete gentleman in every sense of the word, he was mild mannered never used profanity or uttered a bad word about anyone. He was just an all-around great guy. Marty was always there for everyone and will be greatly missed by all Mariners from Bar Harbor, Maine to Key West Florida. Farewell my good friend, May calm seas, fair winds and a following sea be with you for all eternity. Rest in Peace Captain Marty”
After Capt. Tom’s memorial speech, the wreaths for Capt. Marty were thrown in along with one of Capt. Marty’s Paint Brushes. Then the quiet bay went loud, very loud! All the boats stood on their air horns…very nice farewell goodbye.
Fare thee well Captain Marty Haines you are missed.
Video with Capt Tom's Speech here.
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We spotted the Humpback whale very quickly today, it wasn’t hard. The whale breached and we saw its bright white 30-40 foot splash a mile or two away. When we met up with the whale, the whale was actively feeding hitting the Menhaden Bait Balls scattered on the ocean’s surface. It did some really good lunge feedings - mouth open with Menhaden flying all about...Love that stuff! In-between the lunge feedings the whale did a solo tail throw and two big Breaches.
You have to get out on the American Princess for a whale watch! The Humpback Whale action is amazing right now! The AP docks at Pier 3 – Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Directly across the street from Applebee’s on Emmons Ave. Address is 2498 Emmons Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11235. Get out and see what we see.
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The sea conditions were very good with light winds around 5 kts, seas around 2 ft, no chop. Bright sunshine, cloud cover 0%, 83 degrees with low humidity, just a perfect day for a whale watch.
We headed out of lower NY Bay past Breezy Point Inlet and came upon a pod of Dolphins. They were feeding on small Bunker bait balls. We usually don’t get to see the Dolphins ripping through the bait balls. I mean – we could actually see the dolphins corralling the Menhaden deep in the water, then running at and through the Bait balls feeding. That was cool.
The dolphins once again brought us to the humpbacks today. The whales and dolphins were in the same area and the whales were feeding also. We came upon the first whale, then there were two, then four. We motored past a lazy whale to meetup with the active whale and it gave us a show. This whale was not shy! He or she liked to get close and had no preference to the front or the back, this whale was everywhere and unpredictable. As always, the AP adheres to Whale watching protocols, the whales and the passengers are always safe. The whale was lunge feeding as we approached but stopped and went into a Pectoral slap session with a few twists and turns. It was nice to see the whale up close and some of those pectoral slaps were very loud.
The whale did many big blows or spouts, it looks like rain on the water’s surface. It also creates a very fine mist and this mist drifts down wind or the boat can drive through the blow. “Sometimes” when a whale takes a breath of air (blow or spout) its exhaled breath can be unbelievably stinky! The smell – think of a covered bucket with Bunker fish in it that sat in the sun, decomposing for a week. Now open that bucket and give it a whiff…THAT’S THE SMELL of whale’s breath. I have been out on my boat and found whales on their breath alone…truth! Good news for us today, the whales blow, or whales’ breath didn’t smell at all. A small kid next to me says “why did I just get rained on?” I said” That’s the whales’ breath, its it blow”. I thought to myself "Man, if that whales breath was bad and I told the kid what it was that was misting on him, he would have freaked Haha"
Whales are in NYC waters get out on the AP and see what I see!
We charged out of Breezy Point and traversed the ocean until we came upon a small pod of Dolphins which lead us to a very big pod of dolphins, 250+ estimated. The Dolphins were feeding and playing, nothing spectacular but still nice to see. A small group of Dolphins were getting rowdy, calves and moms in the mix causing a commotion splashing and playing. The reason why, they were interacting with a whale we knew was in the area but could not find. The whale we meetup with is known as #NYC0086 in the New York City Humpback Whale Catalog curated by Gotham Whale. I am almost positive our first interaction with #NYC0086 was on July 29th, 2018.
#NYC0086 was somewhat elusive staying down between blows for 10+ minutes every surface. 86 is a big whale, its footprints on the surface were impressive, somewhat giving away its location and travel line. They Bunker were snapping on the surface all around, but the schools were not thick and deep. Looking at the finder, there was no bunker schools on the bottom. Knowing that, I don’t think NYC0086 was subsurface feeding for the 10 minutes+ dives. I think the whale just ate and was digesting or napping or just taking a break.
All on board got a great day out on the AP with 1 whale #NYC0086 and 250+ Dolphins seen.
You have to get out on the American Princess to see this action for yourself. It is amazing! They have been doing whale watches since the start of the whale’s returning to NYC. The AP pushes off in Brooklyn now, Sheepshead Bay. Get on the AP and see what’s out there.
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When we were on NYC0089 we were very close to the Breezy Point Jetty, so it would be a short trip for NYC0089 to get to Lower NY Bay or Harbor, then to Upper NY Bay or Harbor and onwards and upwards to the Hudson River or the North River.
There is so much bait inside the back bays and harbors right now. We assume that's true for the Hudson River as well but do not 100% know that is a fact. From the many reports I have read the whale is feeding and looking healthy. It is relatively safe for the whale to be there; the water is very deep. Boat traffic is the biggest problem for this whale. Ship strikes are one of the major causes for fatalities and injuries for Marine Mammals including the Humpback Whale, so this could be a problem. Marine traffic and seasoned captains know there is a whale in the area, everyone on the water is in the know. There are many eyes on the lookout for this whale, so it should be OK.
We saw NYC0089 before, on June 02, 2018 on the American Princess Cruises Whale Watch. It was healthy and with other whales and dolphins that day. Here is the recap – Artie Raslich Photography | 2018-06-02 5 Humpbacks and 50+ Dolphins off Rockaway . I think I have seen this whale a few other times but cannot confirm. Sometimes you get photos of whales, and because of distance or angles in photos you cannot ID them… hey, it happens.
Well, I hope NYC0089 has fun in the big city seeing the sights. And then gets the hell out of there before Mayor De Blasio slaps him with restrictions or makes him quarantine!
Good luck NYC0089, see you soon!
We (Gotham Whale and the American Princess) came across our second entangled whale in a week! The American Princess Cruises all day Seafari was coming to an end when we saw this Humpback Whale roughly a mile off Fort Tilden, Rockaway Beach, NY. There were two other whales in the area and many dolphins all around swimming with these whales.
We came across the entangled humpback, and it immediately did a breach. The whale was swimming and breathing normally. It did not look, sound or act stressed, even though a breach could be a sign of anything good or bad, including stress. The whale then fluked a few times and revealed the entanglement: fishing gear wrapped around its fluke. At that point (3:22pm), the AP stopped and immediately all agencies needing to be contacted were contacted by Captain Frank via phone and radio. All information needed was shared and Capt. Frank did an incredible job as he and Capt. Tom always do!
Once again, in a small way, the AP with GW is helping humpbacks in the Western NY Bight! I will say this, and it’s my opinion, but I think you will agree: “If it were not for Gotham Whale and American Princess Cruises being out on the water practicing Citizen Science on a constant basis many whales that pass through NYC waters entangled or injured would probably go undetected.” When you hear or read NYC and Humpback Whale, it usually is followed by Gotham Whale and American Princess Cruises in the same sentence!
Gotham Whale was created in 2009 and holds the only NYC Humpback Whale Catalog. The NYCHWC has broken the 200 whales documented mark this year. The details of each of the whales in this catalog help scientists (and citizen scientists) in the whale world tremendously.
About Gotham Whale – it is 100% a volunteer-based citizen scientist 503c1 non-profit entity and is funded by donations. If you want to help the whales in NYC – Donate to GW here HELP GOTHAM WHALE HELP NYC WHALES. You can buy Gotham Whale gear and that helps us as well.
As soon as the NARW identification was made, we backed away immediately and left the NARW. NOAA regulations say you need to stay 500 meters away and we did. On exiting, THE CALLS WENT OUT on seeing a NARW! ALL protocols were followed when seeing a NARW. The government agencies were informed: NOAA, USCG, and others. Captains Frank and Tom called Vessel Traffic about the NARW being in the area. All ships in the area were hailed and informed to slow down, including another whale watching boat.
The conditions were a little rocky, especially when in the trough. Looking at photos for details in these conditions is limited. I get home, upload the photos, and start the processing. I notice a rope embedded in the rostrum of the NARW. It looks like the rope is wrapped twice around the top of the mouth and is not wrapped around the whole mouth (my opinion, I am not a NARW expert). I think this whale can filter feed, but I did not get photos of the whole head of the NARW. Photos show the rope being covered by the lower jaw and, this to me, would point to it being able to open its lower jaw to eat. But again, I am NOT an expert. The rope looks to have been there for a while because it's embedded in the top of the head and callosities have totally covered it up except on the sides.
As soon as I saw the rope, I processed the photos and sent them out to all agencies that needed them for IDing, including CCS and MMSC.
I waited a few days before posting the information and when NOAA sent out their bulletin, I waited another day to post my info and photos!
Here is what I know and was told: This NARW has not been matched and is not known to be involved in any ongoing entanglement case. Based on its emaciation and extreme injuries-- look at the giant healing impact bruise or cut on its left side-- this whale is in very bad shape. Look at the entanglement scars, the rope, and injuries-- it likely does not have much longer. It is not likely to be feeding, so it will probably wander and may show up just about anywhere.
We wish this NA Right Whale well; we might see it in the area next week? If we do, we will stay 1500 feet away and call all who need to know that it's still in the area.
A big thank you to the Captains and Crew of American Princess Cruises; a great Seafari adventure was had by all! Try to make it out on the next Seafari on Oct 1st.
Conditions were great on this day! Light winds, 1-2ft waves with a glassy sheen on the surface (no chop), bright sunshine, clear water, no humidity. These conditions are perfect for seeing “into” the water close to the boat. When it's choppy, it’s hard to clearly see (and photograph) what is in the water.
The whale watch started off fast with a small pod of dolphins; they were playing. When they saw the AP they beelined it over to us and started riding the wake. This is always a great sight, one of my favorite sights with dolphins. They played in the wake as we moved on looking for humpbacks. When in transit, on a day like this I am always looking down into the water. So many Cownose Rays (maybe Bullnose Rays…I DON’T KNOW!) were in the area! I saw a few cownose rays breaching- that was nice and unexpected.
Looking out on the horizon we saw a few blows and then we were on a pair of humpbacks; the whale watch was on. We stayed with the whales for a while, but they were in transit mode. They did a tandem lunge feeding but mostly they were moving. We saw a few more blows and went to see the other whale that just came into view. We met up with the whale, which was also in transit; not feeding, just taking breaths and fluking. BTW - The breath of the whales we met up with was disgusting…DISGUSTING! With the light winds on the water, their blow or “breath” carries on the wind. If you're down wind, the cloud of whale breath hits you right in your face and it’s an experience. What does whale breath smell like? ROTTEN FISH! Think 5-day old bunker sitting in a bucket outside in the sun and times that by 10.
While this was all going on, I still had my eyes out for sharks and other things, and you never know what you will see. I am following the humpback, camera ready. I look to the shore (Jersey shore, we were off Jersey) and see something do a violent breach. It was amazing! At first, I thought it was a great white breaching- it was a very big fish. There was only one breach and it happened so fast, I was camera ready and took my shots, but I did not know if I got the shot. I was so busy going nuts, yelling, and screaming over what I just saw, it was crazy! So excited I got to see something like that with others.
I look at the series of photos, not a Great White. I see a crescent shaped tail and think Yellowfin Tuna. I look at the next photo, it looks like a Bluefin Tuna. I go to the next one and I see the whole fish. It is a Giant Blue Fin Tuna doing a FULL BREACH. 100% all of the tuna was out of the water! WOW, I just saw that, and it was a mile or two off the beach! The second-best photo I have ever taken!
This day was incredible! I can not wait to go out on the American Princess all-day whale watch coming up on Sept 17th and Oct 1st. These trips are where I thought I would see something like this happen, who knew it would be a mile or so off the coast. WHAT A DAY!
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Dolphins and whales have been seen in East Rockaway channel before. The whale named "Reynolds" for Reynolds Channel by Gotham Whale, was in the western back bays of Nassau County for about ten days a few years ago. Good news on the whale, it got out. Dolphins have been in the back bays many times before; it's not uncommon. The dolphin was first reported in the area on July 21st and is still in that area on Aug 01st.
This dolphin is in a very different situation than Reynolds the whale was. Right now (Aug 01, 3pm) the dolphin is in Mill River, not East Rockaway Channel. Mill River is brackish water, meaning the dolphin is swimming in water having more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. Dolphins that are not considered freshwater dolphins may visit or travel through freshwater environments, but they ultimately return back to their saltwater habitat. In this case, to get out to the ocean this dolphin needs to go out one of the two nearest inlets, which are East Rockaway Inlet and Jones Inlet. All the fish (food) dolphins normally eat are in that river and in abundance, so it will not go hungry. The dolphin is not being held down or entangled; it is freely breathing. The water is deep, so it should not get stranded. It looks to be in good health, but I am not a dolphin expert. With all the good mentioned there are a few bad things that make the odds of getting out to the ocean go down: bridges and stress.
Stress – Not good! Not being able to get back to the ocean, that is stressful on its own. Seeing groups of people in kayaks surrounding the dolphin just feet away is not good and is compounding the stress factor for this dolphin. The Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act do not allow unauthorized people to get within 150 feet or 50 yards to view or interact with a wild dolphin. Feeding a dolphin, which was happening when the dolphin was in the East Rockaway boat basin, is illegal. Violations can be prosecuted either civilly or criminally and are punishable by fines of up to $100,000 and/or up to 1 year in jail. YEAH, read that again, these guys are serious about this.
Bridges – There are two bridges the Dolphin must navigate to get to the ER Channel. The LIRR train trestle, then the Atlantic Ave Bridge. The first, the LIRR Trestle, is a very shallow passage for the dolphin. There are rocks placed under the trestle to limit the amount of brackish water that gets out at low tide. The Atlantic Ave Bridge can be navigated by the dolphin at almost any tide.
My opinion, and take it with a grain of salt:
Here’s what needs to happen for this dolphin to reach the ocean. People need to leave it alone. The dolphin needs to get out of the river at a mid to high tide, the more water the better. This week we will have a full moon and heavy rain. The water (rain and tide) at outgoing tide will be rushing the river water out of Mill River to the East Rockaway Channel very fast. This is the time for the dolphin to get out of that river. If this dolphin can not make it out on its own this week coming up, a rescue of some type will have to happen. If a rescue won't/can't be performed and the dolphin can't get out, that dolphin will be there for a very long time. If all else fails, the unfortunate reality is, and it is tough to hear, this dolphin could be euthanized.
FYI - If you see a dolphin or turtle in distress call NY Marine Rescue Center (NYMRC). The NYMRC has been on site, every day, since day one. They are there to educate people about what is going on and to help keep the public and the dolphin safe. At this point (8/03 3pm) the NYMRC is not performing a rescue or are planning a rescue, but this can change at any moment. NYMRC knows people are passionate about wild animals and dolphins and whales are on top of that list. Please respect what these NYMRC workers are doing, because they know what they are doing! What NYMRC workers do not need is people going off on them demanding "whatever" to be done so the dolphin can get out. Now these people going off are passionate, dolphin loving people with the best intentions for the dolphin. But the NYMRC knows best- let them do their job!
Again, all this is my opinion, agree or disagree but now ya know what I think, and let us hope the dolphin gets out!
Read up on the rescue attempts for Reynolds the whale here:
Reynolds the Humpback Whale situation.
Reynolds Channel Whale Event/Incident Action Plan
"Operation Reynolds" Trying to help save Reynolds the Humpback In Reynolds Channel
UPDATED PHOTOS----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HHere is the outcome for the Dolphin! Very Sad!!!
It started out slow, all eyes on the water. We came upon a school of Spinner Sharks going nuts on a school of bunker. I do not see these sharks very often so when we saw them, I got excited. Grabbed the camera and got a few crappy shots but they show that they are 100% Spinner Sharks. In a good spot for some photos and a boat comes in and runs over the feeding frenzy bait ball and disperses the sharks, so we left. We came up on the first whale and he/she was very hard to spot. The whale was sleeping on the surface, no blows. Only the blow hole and snout were just above the water. We stayed for 15 minutes and left so the whale could get its beauty rest. Quickly we were on the second whale and this whale was awake and doing its thing. The whale watching boat Atlantic Pearl was out with us on this whale and the whale did what they call a “Mugging.” Not a true mugging but it was close. The whale stayed by the boat, very close. It wrapped around the front from left to right watching us the whole way, then dove. Got some great shots and a fluke. We got wind of two whales lunge feeding in the area, so we went over to see the action. We saw the whales, but the show was over, and we had a 35-mile trip home. We hugged the shore on the way home to catch sight of Sharks, Dolphins, Cownose Rays, but nothing.
A school of Spinner sharks and 4 Humpbacks were seen! Great time had by all.
Needing to be said, there is a protocol in watching whales. It's common sense to keep yourself and the whale safe when out whale watching but some lose their minds to get close to a marine mammal. That is not how it works! Click here to read up on how to act and react on a private whale watch.
Great show, these guys and gal get better and better with every show! The sound was perfect! Great time had by all, what a great start to 2020…Happy New Year.
When a Humpback Whale dies and washes up on a beach anywhere up and down the East Coast, there might be a chance that Gotham Whale has a record of sighting/s of that whale. Now let’s be real, there are MANY Humpback Whales out there. What are the chances we have seen and documented the whale that has died, SLIM? But still, there is a chance! When the whale lands on a LI beach the odds go up!
A 28ft dead emaciated female Humpback Whale washed up on a Southampton beach on Nov 14th. After looking at the two posted photos via AMCS's Social Media outlets it was determined that GW has seen this Humpback on a few occasions over the 2019 whale watching season. A number was given to this female Humpback whale, and it is known as #NYC0159, in the New York City Humpback Whale Catalog. #NYC0159 was seen in 2019 on 6/16, 6/20, 6/22, 7/05 and 9/28.
I remember seeing #NYC0159 for the first time on June 16th, 2019 off Sandy Hook. I was on the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin Watch and it was a quick encounter. I saw the back of the whale; it was really beat up. It looked like this whale was in a serious entanglement and escaped or was disentangled. It had wounds on its black body, healed white, showing scars everywhere. It was spotted a few times after that on June 20th, 22nd, July 5th and Sept 28th whale watches. I was out on the AP on the July 5th whale watch when we met up with NYC0159 feeding in Raritan Bay going into Sandy Hook Bay right by the Naval Weapons Station Earl. The whale was feeding close to a docked Naval Ship and the whale lunge fed its way around the front by the bulbous bow of that Navy vessel. Naval Weapons Station Earle is a restricted area. The whale can go there but we can’t. While watching #NYC0159 we saw another whale in Raritan Bay and went to take photos of that whale.
The New York City Humpback Whale Catalog team, including Paul Sieswerda – Director of GW has provided the dates we have seen #NYC0159 whale. Celia Ackerman – Naturalist extraordinaire, Danielle Brown - Lead Humpback Whale researcher for Gotham Whale, and myself, identified #NYC0159 via its dorsal fin. YES, we do need the fluke photo for IDing a whale but other markings on the whale’s body and the dorsal fin work well for IDing also. Having them all: fluke, dorsal and body markings, complete the IDing package but not having a fluke is not a deal breaker!
Therefore, Citizen Science is so important to Gotham Whale! We have a program called “Wanted!” You take a photo of a whale off NYC, Long Island and NJ (it’s not just NYC). You go to the website and fill out all the information, it's detailed and all information requested is needed. We take that detailed information and use it for our NYCHW catalog and other uses! It’s all for documenting the whales in the western NY Bight. Read up here – https://gothamwhale.org/citizen-science/
The above is a small part of what we do at Gotham Whale. GW is an all-volunteer non-profit citizen scientist organization running solely on donations and no one gets a “paycheck." To be honest, we do not take in or raise much money. Most of the GW workers are using their own money to get things done. If you’re thinking of donating to a non-profit origination, please think about Gotham Whale in the future or right now by going here and becoming a:
Member https://gothamwhale.org/membership/
Donating https://gothamwhale.org/donations/
Buying gear https://gothamwhale.org/shop/
#NYC0159, looks like you had a hard life, RIP.
UPDATE Via Photos on the bottom of the page 11-20-19 10:05am.
UPDATE - I went back and looked at July 5th photos that I didn't process and share because of them being of low quality. I do keep all crappy photos for situations like this! NYC0159 was seen and photographed doing a breach on this day. In the crappy photo, I can make out the markings on the tip of the right Pectoral fin. The same exact markings are on the right pectoral fin of the dead whale that was photographed and shared on social media by AMCS. This is very good information, it shows the whale was active via a breach and was feeding. We could not confirm with 100% acuracy if this was NYC0159 in the breach but with the cross examination of photos it is a match. We were with NYC0159 from 136pm to 217pm on July 5th.
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Today’s whale and dolphin adventure on the American Princess was just as advertised…AN ADVENTURE! It started off with a bang! First a few dolphins and bunker everywhere, stripers, blues and some sharks. The sharks looked like Threshers and were hitting the bunker schools up on the surface. Quick white flashes in the bunker schools show the ocean was alive with action. We quickly saw a spout and met up with a humpback that must have just finished feeding. It was passing by and going “around” the bunker schools that were perfectly set up for those amazing lunge feedings we usually see around NYC. On a side note with this whale - I have never seen a humpback whale crap so much! It plastered the ocean brown, ha-ha yeah…that happened. The whale gave us a couple of pectoral slaps, blasted out of the water once with a big chin slap and a few rainblows and we went on to the second lazy whale. The second whale was in the same mode as the first, taking a break and just enjoying the sights and hanging off NYC and western Nassau County.
We were at the end of the trip and heading in, I was packing up my gear. We are almost at the Breezy Jetty and we come upon the most active, acrobatic and fascinating pod of dolphins I have seen in my life! The acrobatics were insane, you name it, they did it, almost on command. Yell out "do a flip"...BOOM, you got an 8-10-foot dolphin jumping and flipping out of the water 10+ feet! They were bow riding, wake riding, chin slaps, flipper slapping, back breaches, front breaches! They were feet from the boat checking us out! Have you ever looked into a wild and free dolphin's (or whales) eyes, while they are looking directly back at yours? It’s an experience of a different kind. For me, it’s like being at a Grateful Dead concert, on the rail in front of Jerry. Jerry just went nuts, ripping it up on the “wolf.” You scream “JERRY” and Jerry “eyes you” over his glasses and smiles while his right hand is extended over his head holding a pick. That's the kind of day I had yesterday! Talking about Jerry's Doug Irwin custom "Wolf" guitar...the Wolf made its live debut in 1973 aboard the SS Bay Belle in New York Harbor at a Garcia/Saunders show…but I digress. NYC ROCKS!
The passengers on the AP got a show today, they was going nuts! I actually heard a grown man shriek louder than his 6yo daughter. There were high fives all around, tears of joy were flowing and were badges of honor on the cheeks of many…true story!
Got a tip on some whales off LI (thanks Karen D). We were in transit and never got there; we saw a blow on our way, and we were off. We met up with a humpback whale early in the whale and dolphin adventure and the action didn’t stop till the end. The humpbacks were close from time to time. No lunge feedings, but we saw a hybrid spy hop which is not a common move for whales around here and was nice to see. I think I have only seen like 3 Spy Hops here in NYC/LI waters. One was a good one and made a local whale famous. The photo of Jerry the whale coming out of the water in line with the Empire State building, that was a Spy Hop! That was a good one…
A Finback whale was seen, and there might have been two? They were not close to the boat; the towering, slim, cone-shaped blows gave them away. A beautiful Minke whale was part of the show today. It was very close to the AP and stayed around for a photo op and then bolted.
I have to say, Captains Frank and Tom NEVER stop looking and in the last minutes of the whale and dolphin watch spotted 10 or so Dolphins.
I’d call this adventure a success with 3 humpback whales, 10 or so Dolphins, a Fin Whale and Minke seen.
So thankful for the opportunity to help spot whales on the American Princess Cruises whale and dolphin adventures. If you haven’t been out watching whales on the AP, what are you waiting for? It’s been an amazing year so far and it looks to get better and better every day!
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The weather and conditions for whale watching have been near perfect here in NYC for over a month now. Flat conditions with light variable winds and warm temps have been the norm. We started out with a full boat and some news coverage from the NY Post (that’s good news). We saw leaping Atlantic Sturgeon, 1000’s...YES I said…THOUSANDS of Cownose Rays, 3 Humpbacks and 200+ Dolphins. This was a good day, a very good day, but it could have been much worse, I would say a catastrophe if things did go wrong.
180 people on the AP watching whales on this day. The Whale watching boat is in Raritan Bay, there are boats and ships everywhere. On each side, attached to the whale watching boat, are big signs “WHALE WATCHING AND FERRY.” We stand out as a whale watching vessel not a fishing charter boat!
At 3:47pm a Sandy Hook Pilot Boat named “AMERICA” is racing into Raritan bay, off South East Annandale in NY waters, not slowing down. I think to myself that they are going way too fast with whales in the area, but they are away from the boat and the whales. Yes, they should be going slower but that’s the way it is.
It is now 4:26pm and we are off Great Kills Park in Lower NY Harbor on a Humpback with other small boats, the whale watching area is tight. We are watching a humpback whale on our Starboard right-hand side, 100ft from the whale watching boat and we are out-of-gear. I look back and see the Sandy Hook Pilot Boat “AMERICA” charging back out of Raritan bay. The vessel is full speed, not slowing down or turning. The Pilot boat is behind the whale watching boat and speeding straight into the area and path where an active humpback whale is. 180 whale watchers/witnesses at this point start frantically waving their hands and screaming "slow down!" The screams and waving to the captain of the pilot boat were not the friendly boat-to-boat waving, it clearly was screams of an emergency and an aware Captain would have seen this! The Pilot boat Captain approaches from the back and is passing our vessel on the starboard side of the whale watching vessel at high speed, 25-35+mph, disregarding everyone’s safety as well as the whale's. The Captain of the Pilot boat did not indicate he was passing/overtaking the whale watching boat on the right-hand side with “two short blasts of his horns.” Nor did the Pilot Captain hail the Captain of the Whale watching boat on the radio telling him he is being passed. If he did, the captain would have told him there was a whale in his path and not to pass on starboard side, but to slow down and pass on the port side. BUT NO…Here comes the pilot boat at full speed, passing a commercial vessel 40-50 feet away and throwing a very large wake and running right over a Humpback Whale that just took a dive and endangering 180 people’s lives on a whale watching vessel.
This incident is incredibly disconcerting, and nothing…NOTHING will ever come of this! WHY? The Sandy Hook Pilots Association can basically do what they want, when they want. From what I was told, they are above the law with many turning their eye from stuff like this. Ironically, on the Pilot Boat's website they boast "We value a rich and historic tradition committed to professional collaboration, integrity and respect." 180 witnesses today saw nothing of the sort. Good news, a NY POST beat writer was on board doing a story on Whales in NYC and this situation might get some attention? Maybe the story should be about Whales in NYC and how safe they are around commercial boat traffic?
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I was out on the famous American Princess (AP) with Gotham Whale (GW) out of Riis Landing in Queens N.Y. The AP is NYC's only whale watching boat and I can't stress this enough...you must get on the AP for a NYC whale watch, it is incredible!
The Captain of the boat in these pictures looks to be doing nothing wrong while whale watching, but that's not the case! There are many ways to get in the way of a feeding humpback, this Captain committed almost all of them! He had no idea he was cutting off the whale almost the whole time we were with the whale and his boat. PLEASE! If you know you will be going out on a private boat whale watching, Captain or not, someone on that boat needs to know what to do around humpbacks. Here are some rules to follow when on a private boat and you encounter whales.
I went out on Thursday night for the second in a series of the American Princess Cruises “Sunset Whale and Dolphin” (W&D) watching cruises.
The AP pushed off at 5pm and encountered two incredibly active Humpbacks and it was spectacular. Breaching, tail throws, chin slaps and the list goes on. One whale was having fun with its food. The Humpback would come up on small, tightly packed Bunker (Menhaden) bait balls and not eat! The Humpback would dive down by the bait ball and then charge up and out, breaching and landing on the bait ball. Interesting behavior but it was a show! All this, a beautiful sunset and it ends with the gorgeous city lights of Coney Island and the Manhattan skyline. A perfect sunset cruise it was, returning to the dock at 9pm.
This is the best W&D action we have seen here in NYC, EVER!
We had a great day out on the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin Watch with Gotham Whale, it was incredible.
Conditions were very good: scattered clouds, warm weather, a slight wind chop with no ocean swell. We saw big schools of Cownose Rays, frisky dolphins, turtles, and 5 humpback whales. Both humpbacks and dolphins put on a great show; both were doing breaches and jumps and the whales were doing some nice lunge feedings. We found out that one of these 5 whales was the most famous of all NYC whales, NYC0011, aka JERRY! Jerry is the whale that leaped/spy hopped up in line with the Empire State Building. Something interesting happened when we were just about to dock, we saw a blow under the Marine Parkway Bridge! WHAT? A Humpback in Jamaica Bay! WOW!! What a day!!!
Gotham Whale, along with other conservationists and players in this game, were present at New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky’s press conference on the Long Beach Boardwalk at National Blvd on Superbowl Sunday. With the ocean and beach as the backdrop, Todd along with local government officials, announced two bills that will be signed on Tuesday. Both bills have everything to do with the health of our ocean and it’s just a start.
1. Anti-offshore drilling bill in NY waters bill.
2. Atlantic Menhaden (bunker) fish protection bill S2317. The Menhaden bill is sponsored by NYS Senator Todd Kaminsky (Long Beach).
All the noise “WE” made when the large Omega Protein factory purse seine net ships came up here in NY waters, taking our local Bunker fish aka Menhaden by the millions, was heard and paid off!!!! Omega Protein reductions heard us loud and clear, that’s why their talking heads were badgering anyone who opposed them. The news outlets heard us, they came out and pushed the information forward. Followers on social media heard us and pushed the posts and tweets, increasing the outreach of our message. Local government heard us and here we stand today.
This blog post is what stirred the pot: MENHADEN AKA BUNKER ARE BEING TAKEN IN THE MILLIONS! The post instantly went viral and brought well needed attention to the cause, but many others have been in this fight for decades and this situation of menhaden reduction problems reaches back decades and more. This is not a new topic, even though you might not have even heard of the fish called Atlantic Menhaden (aka Bunker) until today.
The Atlantic Menhaden protection bill – MY TAKE. It’s great for NY waters! The bill protects the East End and locks down the LI Sound waters because Connecticut has the same purse seine net legislation to protect Menhaden- that’s awesome! The problem we have here in our area is the bill only reaches out and protects NYS waters that are within three miles from the state's coastline, including the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound, and embayments. We need to keep the Omega Protein ships away from the Humpback Whale feeding areas. If you look at the map of where the Omega Protein ships were fishing along with the overlay of where humpback whales feed, it’s the exact same spots. WHY? Because the humpback whales eat Menhaden. Omega Protein catches Bunker (1.2 million pounds per boat load). They are fighting for the same food and that's where bycatch comes in and is a problem. remember what happened to Owl the Humpback whale???
Most of the time the whales are feeding outside the 3-mile line in federal waters. We need to do an addendum to protect NY Humpback feeding grounds or push the NY State water line to 12 miles instead of 3 miles; some say 15 miles and others say 50 miles.
Good News - Atlantic Menhaden in NYS are better protected.
Bad News – The Omega Protein ships from Virginia can still come up here and grab Atlantic Menhaden (Bunker), 1.2 million pounds of Menhaden per shipload.
Above photo is the NYS cutoff line. Some, including myself think it should be 12 miles not 3 miles.
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I ran out of Debs on the SHIP OF FOOLS, and before I even got past the bridge, I see one big splash very far away, like 5 miles away. I immediately hit the gas and went straight to the spot. I shut the boat down and sat there on the lookout for sights and sounds of anything on the water and nothing. Not a gannet diving, ripple or splash, nothing was going on. 30 minutes go by and I see way off shore, a very big blow then another a distance away. I am thinking it’s a Finback whale and it’s worth the trip out. I start up the boat and right in front of me a blow! WHAT, how could this whale sneak up on me like that? Well, it did. It had a very light blow almost nonexistent vapor and very quiet. I see the dorsal, looks familiar. I get a partial fluke photo, check it out and its Humpback Whale #NYC0073 (aka KLECKO) in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog. The whale was in mellow mode, staying under for 10-15min at a time. I stayed with 73 and followed it back west.
I get a call, whale off rockaway. I am in that area and quickly see another whale #NYC0106. 106 was on the hunt for some food and was much livelier than 73 was. The whale fluked many times, did a few belly rolls and some surface feeding but I didn’t see any fish in or around the whale’s mouth.
Got a few good fluke shots and dorsals for Identifying the whale. It was apparent this whale had a hard past. It has entanglement scars and was hit on the right side by a recreational boat. You can see the prop and skeg marks/scar in the photos, it looks like the wound has healed. The whale looks good right now, let’s hope 106 has safe travels down to the breeding grounds.
My time was up, had to get back in. It was a great day out on the water today, two humpback whales seen #NYC0073, #NYC0106 and a possible Finback Whale way offshore.
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LOVE THESE TWO PHOTOS! You see a gigantic splash 2-3 miles away. You could never get there in time so you just have to enjoy the view for what it is. The whale started breaching, telling the other 3+ whales in the area: "I AM HERE"
This whale was nonstop pectoral fin slapping in front of the best view on any whale watching boat you can go on, American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale
Great day watching this whale spin in circles slapping its pectoral fin. It would stay on one side and then switch to the other, it didn't care if we were hanging around watching it show off. There was another whale very close, we had to leave but it looked like both whales were getting closer and closer. Maybe they were old friends meeting up to catch the sights of the big city?
There’s a difference between "bragging about your work" and being "proud of your work"-- don’t get me wrong…I DO BOTH, HAHA! In this case, I am proud. I have trained myself to know my equipment to the point where I do not have to look through the eyepiece on the fly and capture, with accuracy, using a 300mm 2.8 and sometimes with a 1.4 extender bringing it to 420mm, action photos on a rocky boat. It’s a big lens to throw around but it’s the best choice in almost all situations, except for this one. If I had the 200mm in my hand instead of the 300mm (which I do carry on my hip as the other camera) this breach photo would have been spectacular. But still, I think for the situation, they are great photos. This humpback, known as NYC0087, blasts out of the water in a full breach right next to the AP, about 50 feet away or less. The splash might have reached the boat, that’s how close it was. The breach was to the back, not front, and caught us all by surprise. The splash concussion was so loud it sounded like the worst belly flop you have ever heard…times 100! The photos of the breach - tack sharp and on the whale’s body you can see the white outline of the American Princess. Love that…
The time we had with this whale was short, but It was made up for by way of everything being in place. To make the photos spectacular things need to all come together like the background, the clarity of the air, the maneuvers the whale was making, the positioning of the boat and the settings chosen for the photos. ANY changes to one of these conditions can make a spectacular photo somewhat indifferent. These are some of my favorite photos taken this year, I still have until Dec 15th to top these.
Jump on the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale to see this for with your own eyes.
]]>Soon as I get to the oceanside of the inlet I see a few dolphins in the inlet and a few old friends on a boat, Mike and Dave. I was more interested in the dolphins, BUT Mike and Dave were doing a photo shoot with a surfer being towed into the surf by a Jet Ski. I can’t pass this up, so I stayed for a few shots of them doing their thing. I didn’t want to crash their party, so I moved on, giving them room to be creative.
I move offshore and ran into like a 100 frisky Dolphins. I stayed with them for a while, but this was a humpback whale watch and need to see what I came out to see…HUMPBACKS!
I saw a blow, then another and I have a humpback. It was a lazy whale, zig zagging all over the place, when humpbacks are not predictable I give them their room. I turn up the music, so it knows where I am, take the boat out of gear and watch. I am glad I did! The whale moved away from me and at a good distance. BOOM does a full breach, I caught part of it. It segues into a few chin slaps which I knew were coming and were ready for it.
The whale went back to zig-zagging and came directly at the boat, very close a few times and cruised under the boat once. With the water being so clear, I could see the whale beneath me as I go from one side to the other, camera ready watching the whale. Hey, after just seeing the breach and the chin slaps a few minutes ago, it’s a bit unnerving having the whale close and under the boat but not to the point where I’m freaking out. I have been doused by a breaching whale splash before and had bunker thrown at me into and on the boat from lunge feedings its crazy! I don’t want this to happen today.
The humpback moved away and so did I, it was time to go in. Nice to see you, whale, until we meet again, and…we will meet again!
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I was on the American Princess Cruises whale and dolphin watch today, Thursday, August 30th. We had a great day and sighted 11-13 humpbacks, possibly a Minke whale, 20 dolphins and a few sharks. That’s all great but it could be the end of seeing the whales and dolphins in our waters! The day I have been dreading is here! The large Omega Protein factory purse seine net ships are taking our local Bunker fish, aka Menhaden, by the millions!!!!
Why is this happening and how is this happening? A few bills failed to pass in the NYS Assembly that protect our precious Menhaden AKA Bunker fish. "Assembly Bill A10506A" would have banned industrial purse seining in New York Waters. Now, any commercial fishing vessel who buys a permit can come into our waters and take our menhaden fish legally!
Today, a state-of-the-art menhaden killing machine called the "Rappahannock" cleared out a large section of the ocean of menhaden right in front of us! The Rappahannock drove the whales inshore looking for food, this is total BS!!! It’s a wakeup call to all NYers who love the ocean, because the Rappahannock and ships like this are going to clear out ALL the menhaden if we let them! They did in the Chesapeake Bay; they destroyed that bay now they are up here doing the same to this area! The whales, dolphins, bass, blues, sharks and everything else that eats them will be gone. Fisherman should be up in arms; almost all the fish they catch eat menhaden! When the menhaden is gone the fish are gone!
There were a few private “ Menhaden friendly” boats around the processing ship today and reported back to us this information with photos. I was told a Minke whale and a pod of dolphins were feet from the Purse Seine net feeding. The bycatch was seen and striped bass and other fish were being netted and kept. Also, and here is what is not cool, dolphins were seen and caught in the purse seine nets! I don’t know what they did with the dolphins or if the dolphins are even safe or alive? So now we need to worry about them killing or hurting our whales and dolphins- ARE YOU KIDDING ME!
These photos of the operation were sent from a friend who was out watching this happen in NY waters. I was told the workers on the boat didn’t like that pictures were taken of them. The Rappahannock, while fishing, had their automatic identification system (AIS) OFF! AIS is an automatic tracking system used for collision avoidance on ships and by vessel traffic services- it says where, who, and what the boat is. I just checked the Rappahannock’s AIS and at 8pm, it's off Brigantine heading south at 12 knots. Check out where the ship Rappahannock is right now or any day. SO the Rappahannock’s AIS was off when fishing, but for the ride home it's on? Something smells fishy and it ain’t the millions of menhaden they took from our waters today!
This is quote from Carl Lobue of the Nature Conservancy: "It should be unacceptable for industrial-scale fishing boats to steam up the coast and take millions of forage fish from known whale feeding areas. New Yorkers can help by advocating for our whales and the tiny fish they depend on - contact your state senator and NY assembly member and urge them to pass legislation that will protect menhaden and stop unsustainable fishing practices in NY waters. People from all states can help by getting involved in the management of this publicly owned resources by talking to their ASMFC representatives about actions the Commission needs to take to ensure menhaden restoration stays on track."
We are going to need all kinds of help from our local and state representatives, all the way up to Governor Cuomo! Here is a map of all the NYS District and representative information.
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We headed out of Breezy and went on a whale watch. I was in my usual spotting position on the AP, upper left. Now, this is my theory on when the ocean is rough: the whales like to get out of the water. I don’t mean lunge feedings I am talking chin slaps, breaches, tail throws and maneuvers. Yes, they do it when it's flat, but I see these types of maneuvers more when it's snotty…I could be wrong, Just sayin’.
On lookout, I see a very big splash about two miles away followed quickly by two more big splashes. I tell the captain and yell down to the passengers on the pulpit, “We have a Whale between 12 o’clock and 2 o’clock!”
We were far away, and we could lose this whale if we don’t get there quick, so the captain speeds up. We get to the spot where the whale should be, and this whale could be anywhere by now. All eyes on the boat looking out, a passenger says “10 O’clock!” and we have our whale.
The conditions made it tough to spot the whale because the ocean was very rough. The whale can get lost in an angry sea, but this whale started lunge feeding so that’s our saving grace. The whale was going at it, gobbling up as much bunker it could on each lunge feeding through the large waves. We really don’t know if the breaching whale we saw in the distance and this whale we are following now are one and the same whale? After just saying that to the passengers below BOOM! this whale shoots out of the water in a full breach, directly in front of the AP 100 feet away and lands with a spectacular splash. The splash was large and the sound of the whale hitting the ocean sounded like an explosion! The whale did another spectacular breach and then another, followed by about 10 chin slaps. IT WAS NUTS AND it’s what I am here for!
The whale continued to lunge feed after the breaches and chin slaps for a bit and then threw in an epic peduncle throw. I mean this whale committed! It happened so quick and the whale looked like it was going to spin out of the water sideways. The best peduncle throw I have seen to date and he/she only did it once.
The ocean was getting larger and choppier by the minute. Funny thing about angry seas, they don’t translate into photos well. If you look at the photos below it really doesn’t show that the sea was that rough, but it was. So, when you see a photo and say “wow the ocean looks crazy,” it really must have been crazy!
We see a few blows from another whale, then another and then another. A few big splashes here and there away from the boat at distance. We moved over to see the second whale, got a few shots of it and it was time to go in.
YES, "The sea was angry that day, my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli." But it still was a good day, 4 humpbacks seen.
FYI, I have no skin in the game, I just think it's incredible that we have a whale watching boat here in NYC and promote because of this!
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We go off of Atlantic Beach and meet up with a very large pod of dolphins feeding, estimated at 150+ dolphins. It was a very good time watching dolphins of all sizes from newborn to adult out there going nuts, jumping, playing and doing what dolphins do. This year has been off the chart with dolphins, just incredible but the dolphin show is over, it's now time for the whales. We get a call and we are off, a lunge feeding whale is waiting for us.
In Transit we see a slight blow and then another, we get closer and then a big humpback flies out of the water sideways through a Bunker school. OK, we are in for a great show today. It's always nice to see humpbacks doing anything but when they start to lunge feed, that’s it for me, that’s what I am here for! This whale was in the right spot to lunge feed. There were massive bunker schools up on the surface just waiting for this whale to come up and gulp them down, and it did.
Now, I have received word from a few different people that a possible entangled whale was in the area we were in. We are on high alert for this whale, every photo of the whales in this area is important. If we see this entangled whale we follow protocol, as we have done before, and inform all and share the photos and location. If we have to “stand on the whale” until authorities show up we will, even if it means being late back to the dock.
The whale we are on is surface feeding and lunge feeding. It did many lunge feedings in the direction of the boat, giving all a very good look inside its mouth. We could clearly see the baleen hanging down, its tongue and the top of its mouth. It looked like it had a bunker stuck in its baleen plates; I've seen it before. I would equate this to us having a poppy seed stuck in-between our teeth, ha-ha. The whale was very fast; they can be when they want, and you never knew where he would show up after its dive. It could be next to the boat or a 1/4 mile away. We waited for the whale to surface one more time, for two reasons: 1. We want to see the whale one last time before we leave for the dock. 2. You can't just leave a whale without knowing exactly where the whale is, you don't want to get in its way or run over the whale. (Whale SENSE training)
What a great day out on the water! It’s now time to go; we met up with this whale late in the adventure, so we had a limited time watching the whale. YES, it was time to go but my day is not over. I went home and processed the photos you see here. I looked over them in detail to see if this whale is the entangled whale the authorities are looking for. The whale was entangled once before, it has healed markings of rope marks. A few open scratches on its lower jaw but nothing to be alarmed about. We didn’t get a fluke shot but it did lift its tail out of the water once. I do not think this whale is entangled but need to see this whale again to say 100%. Maybe today we will see the whale again…Stay tuned.
Want to see the below live and in person? Book a trip on the AMERICAN PRINCESS CRUISES whale and dolphin adventure! <<< LINK to the adventure.
DISCLAIMER - I am not a writer, it is what it is!
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We charged out of Breezy Inlet on a Whale and Dolphin adventure and quickly met up with a humpback. It was sleeping at the surface, taking its time moving around- must have had a very big breakfast. The whale woke up a few times to maneuver and took a few deep dives. While this whale was down on a dive we saw another blow off close to the beach. We waited for the first whale to surface before we could leave and go see the other whale. The first whale came up away from the boat and we motored away to whale number two.
Get to the second whale and it looks familiar, I know it’s been here in NYC before, now I just need to see its fluke. The whale was moving fast, and it was all over the place! First it's on the right, then on the left and back to the right, you could hardly keep up! The bunker schools were everywhere and on the surface in tight schools. The whale was surface feeding but not lunge feeding. Hey, if I were a fat lazy whale I would surface feed also, why burn calories on a lunge feeding when you don’t have to!
Whale Two dives and shows us its fluke. It’s #NYC0058, aka “unofficially nicknamed Pete Townshend.” Why Pete Townshend from the band THE WHO, you ask? On the right side of the fluke there is an image in its pattern and it looks like a man smashing a guitar on the ground. Pete has been known for smashing guitars, that's why the name.
#NYCOO58 and the other UNID Humpback were out there swimming around, no lunge feedings this day but the whales were surface and below surface feeding. There were 3 other whales out there, we saw their blows but they were resting so we let them be.
The day was over for the whales, but the Dolphin part of the adventure is getting started. I need to say this year the dolphins here on the western NY Bight have been just incredible! SO MANY juveniles and calves in the dolphin pods; it's great to see and they love to play. There was a pod right in the surf off Riis Beach swimming so close to shore that beach goers in the water were 20-40 feet away from the dolphins. While that was going on there were other dolphins buzzing the boat feet away jumping and playing. The people in the boat were going nuts, it's funny and cool to see all at the same time.
We enjoyed their company but it's time to go back. We start moving towards the inlet and I see some dolphin heading to the front of the boat, I run up to see if they were riding the pressure wave of the bow. Nope, they were setting up for something more fun, riding the boat wake and I knew it! So, I ran to the back and there they were riding the boat wake. They were not jumping through the wake like I expected but were just riding the wave under the water not on top. I did get a few photos of the dolphins surfing the waves but nothing spectacular.
This was the end of a great day out on the American Princess Cruises. I will say this every time- “YOU NEED TO GET OUT AND SEE THIS FOR YOURSELF.” NYC Whale and dolphin watching at its best.
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Started out heading south of Breezy but before we even left the channel we were greeted by some Inshore bottlenose Dolphin. A small pod was crossing the channel- it was a quick encounter, but we saw dolphins. Now we are in the ocean and it was 2-5 ft and the wind was on it. Not perfect conditions but we knew where the whales were, so we slowly went to that area.
Get to the area and spend a good time looking but nothing, we did see a shark finning, and that’s great but it's not a shark adventure so we move on.
We head over to Fort Tilden, off the beach, and meet up with a playful Dolphin pod. They were feeding and playing around and gave us a great show. They were in and out of the surf and around the boat, very close at times. The water was so clear you can see the dolphins down in the water as they swim under the boat. We stayed with the dolphins and followed them west towards Breezy Jetty, they were leading us home. Capt. gives a shout out, we are heading in but if we see anything we will stop.
We pass the Breezy point Jetty and since the ocean swell was larger the Sand Bar west of the Jetty was breaking. It was a north wind, so the waves stood up and were clean. I looked at the bar watching the waves break and a dolphin breaches out of the breaking wave! WHAT THE HELL??? I rip my gear out of the backpacks and start shooting. The show those dolphins gave us was spectacular, bordering on epic! These dolphins were treating these waves like it was a ride. They would ride the waves until the sandbar stopped and the waves dissipated and go back to the start of the bar and do it all over again. This went on for a good 20 minutes. While that was happening, moms with calves were swimming feet from the boat AND ALL THIS was happening IN LOWER NY HARBOR! CRAZY!
What a day out, no whales seen but the dolphins made up for it. The dolphin sightings have been incredible this year and the amount of newborn calves in NYC waters is incredible, it’s great to see.
FYI - READ THIS IF YOU GET SEASICK!
The whale was named JERRY after Jerry Garcia for many reasons.
The whale almost always shows up in NYC in the days between August 1st (JG’s Birthday) and August 10th ( JG’s Day of Death).
I would see this whale in September, around the time the Grateful Dead would play MSG for 9-12 shows.
I always have the Grateful Dead playing in the background while I am whale watching on my personal boat "SHIP OF FOOLS.” This whale would always come directly to the boat when the Dead was playing.
Jerry Garcia had a disability, missing part of his middle finger on his right hand. Jerry the whale has a disability, he was hit by a boat on the side of his peduncle, and a horrific prop scar remains.
Jerry’s timeline with me:
2012 Sept: I saw Jerry (the Whale), around the time the Grateful Dead would play the Garden years back for 9-12 shows. It was brief encounter. Yes, I had the Grateful Dead playing and I didn't have a camera.
2013: I am in my boat the "SHIP OF FOOLS," and it's Sept 23rd. I have the Sept 23, 1988, Madison Square Garden from the Grateful Dead playing, and it was loud! "SHIP OF FOOLS" the song just came on (Jerry Garcia sings it) and this Whale gently pops out of the water 6-8 feet from my boat (too close for a picture and comfort). It exhales, and it smelled so bad and the smell surrounded me! It looks right at me with this giant brown eye! I am scared beyond belief (first close encounter). It takes a loud breath, then I notice it has a healed prop chop on his side (almost gruesome). Jerry dives and then goes about Lunge feeding for an hour right by the boat. Jerry must have loved the music, he stayed close! I call the Whale Jerry because Jerry Garcia lost his finger but was an amazing guitarist despite his disability and the whale had a prop chop and it's still doing its thing in an amazing way, so...Jerry it is. From that day on anyone who would listen to me talk about whales KNOWS JERRY!
2014: I went on the American Princess with Gotham Whale about 25 times this year, photographing whales but I have not seen Jerry. On Aug 1st, Jerry Garcia's Birthday, I say before we go out: watch, we'll see Jerry because it's Jerry Garcia's Birthday! We are out on the American Princess on Aug 1st and there's NOTHING out there for 3 hours 45 minutes of a 4-hour tour! 15 minutes before the trip ends we see far off in the distance a Whale just going nuts! He was doing pectoral slaps, breaches, tail slaps, swimming upside down and sideways- just going crazy, loving life! We get closer AND IT'S JERRY!!! He must have just gotten into town and was very happy to be here. Seriously, he must have just got into the waters he loves moments before we saw him. Jerry the whale is home off the Rockaways ON Jerry Garcia's Birthday.
2015: I was on vacation in Block Island and had a calling to get back to the western NY Bight. I told my family, "I gotta go- I know Jerry is going to show up off Rockaway and I have to be there. The days between August 1st JG’s Birthday and August 10th JG’s Day of Death is when Jerry usually shows up. They thought I was nuts. I left Block and the next day August 5th Jerry shows up! We saw Jerry many times in 2015 and If I am not mistaken Jerry took a break from the NYC area in Aug and went to Montauk and was seen there. He then returned and spent almost all of September with us here in the Western Bight.
2016: Jerry did a no-show but that doesn’t mean he wasn't there- we might have just missed him out there.
2017, August 17th: I was out and briefly saw Jerry, spent an hour or so with him. Jerry was not seen the rest of the year.
2018: I knew this year we would be seeing Jerry in the days between August 1st and August 9th.
August 4th, we go out and there were 5 whales, some close others far off. I see a dorsal that looked familiar, thinking it was Jerry but could not confirm.
August 5th see 4 whales one looks familiar…like JERRY. The whale was acting like Jerry, he likes to be with other whales and plays around a lot. I don’t get excited because I can’t 100% confirm, but I know. I get home and dive into processing my photo to confirm. The findings – JERRY THE WHALE IS IN TOWN.
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart, you just gotta poke around!
I love this short clip on Jerry - http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/3rd-block/humpback-whale-sighting-new-york-harbor-n178251 Ever hear someone say "they said" in an explanation? When I hear someone say this I always say "who are they?" In this instance Brian Williams says "they have dubbed..." The "they" in this story is me haha!
Things started out different today than any other whale and dolphin watch. We headed out of Breezy and instead of charging straight out into the Ocean we stayed on the inside, what a good move!
We get to our spot and meet up with a humpback that is motoring with a purpose, and we follow. It didn’t take long for the show to begin and when it did it was non-stop and spectacular! It started out with a few surface feedings and then BOOM this whale blasts out of the water, mouth wide open, water and bunker flying everywhere, and again it didn’t stop! Some of these lunge feedings by this whale were violent and the height it was getting was nuts. In a lunge feeding whales use their very large and powerful pectoral fins like we would use our arms in a breast stroke in swimming. This whale gets so into feeding that its pectorals are out of the water in the lunge feeding. This is my new favorite whale, sorry Jerry the whale #NYC0011.
While watching Whale #1 we see another blow then a lunge feeding, we now have Whale #2. Whale #1 and Whale #2 are in the same area and they are motoring toward each other, all the while, lunge feeding. They met up for a moment 50 feet apart and then went in opposite directions, still lunge feeding. While all this is happening at the front of the AP (twelve o’clock), screams come from the back of the boat: “Two lunge feeding whales at six o’clock!” and another scream from the port side: “Whale Lunge feeding at “ten o’clock.” OK, now we have five whales and all five are actively lunge feeding all around the AP. I overheard a passenger say, there are too many whales, I don’t know where to look! I thought to myself what a great problem to have.
While on a whale watching boat, screaming “there’s the whale” is too broad. Where’s the whale? We have a 360-degree view of the ocean! The whale could be anywhere around the boat, so you need to be specific or you miss the action. For directing passengers to where the whale is beside the AP, a system is in place. The AP is like a clock. Twelve o’clock is the bow, six o’clock is the stern, Port is nine o’clock and starboard is three o’clock. When a whale is seen, one of the crew or passengers will scream “Ten o’clock!” Ten o’clock means the whale is on the port side towards the front of the boat. It really helps, but with five whales it gets crazy…a good crazy.
The AP sat in the middle of the five lunge feeding whales, watching at a distance with the NYC skyline as the backdrop. Time's up, one more lunge feeding and a perfect day of whale watching!
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We met up with NYC0081 and right away its apparent it is NYC0081 because it has a unique fluke. The fluke is curved up on both sides, it stands out from all the others I have seen.
When you spend day after day with the same whales you start to pick up on how they move and act. The last time I met up with 81, It was going nuts with peduncle throws, lobtailing and a few breaches. Today, 81 did the same exact moves.
What’s cool about 81, is how it travels or swims, 81 likes to stay just under the surface of the water. Where you can’t see the whale, but its footprints and movements show up on the surface of the water giving away its direction and position. The whale moves around a lot, it crisscrosses its own path and doubles back doing 180 turns in a very small turn radius. Deep dives happen with 81, staying down for over 10 minutes at a time. With the deep dives, the whale gets some distance from the boat and in the other direction than you think it will be. You think it’s on the right…Nope, it’s on the left. This caused almost all on the boat to miss the three breaches 81 performed.
The peduncle throws are just amazing to see! It takes so much energy to perform these actions, after about the 20th time you can see the whale was starting to get fatigued. It transition to upside-down lobtailing and that went on for about 15minutes!
Dolphins came into the mix half way through the trip, a small pod approximately 50 Dolphins. The dolphins didn’t disappoint, in the pod are some very young dolphin calves and they were playful. If Dolphins are your thing this year is shaping up to be a very good Dolphin watching year on the AP.
It was time to go, great day meeting up with NYC0081, the 50 Dolphins. What an incredible day out on the American princess cruises with Gotham Whale!!!
Summer Benefit Concert
for Our Veterans
Kickoff the Summer of 2018
&
Salute the Men and Women of our Armed Forces
Jonathan Crist
Mike Martino
Mark Ambrosino
Joe Saladino
Jack Vitale
Vinny Muscarella
Laura Schaefer
Bill Blais
Jennifer Eichel
Larry Eisner
Pat Owens
Jeb Ambrosino
Steve Orlando
Eddie Ambrosino
&
Special Guest Musicians
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I was out on the American Princess Friday June 22nd. East wind blowing hard, kicking up the ocean. Slight rain, good visibility.
We charged out past the Breezy Point Jetty and immediately the ocean assaulted us. Headed east to Long Beach but the waves were causing people to get sick, so we turned towards Sandy Hook and Raritan Bay to get some relief from an angry ocean.
We get into Raritan Bay and the conditions were flat with a small chop. There were small Bunker pods on the surface and big splashes like dolphins jumping, but no sign of dolphins? I thought these splashes were either sharks or Atlantic Sturgeon but 20 feet from the boat, coming up through a bunker pod a very large Striped Bass breached 3 feet clear of the water! WOW striped bass breaching, not once but like 10 times during the trip…that’s a first for me.
Still in Raritan Bay looking for a whale and meet up with a lunge feeding Humpback Whale. This whale is very stealthy! I have no idea where or when it will come up. Its blows were very light and when it dove down it traveled a good distance when it came back up for a breath. Its lunge feeding actions were different than most Humpbacks. The whale was doing very shallow lunges and would then rotate on its back and dive.
As I am watching this whale and thinking “I met a whale last year that would lunge feed the same exact way, very unique.” NOW - if this whale and that whale from last year are the same whale we have some really good news on our hands! WHY? BECAUSE if it's the same whale as last year this whale is NYC0071. I KNOW! NYC0071 was the Humpback Whale that had a rope wrapped around and inside its mouth with a red and black buoy attached to the rope. CCS came down not once BUT TWICE and tried to disentangle the whale- read up about it here.
NYC0071 Second Rescue Effort by CCS, USCG and Gotham Whale.
Rescue effort for Humpback Whale NYC0071 from CCS and USCG off
I get a few more shots of the whale, and believe me when I say this, it was not a good day for me photography wise…ahhh, it happens! The photos were not that good, so I didn’t look at them on the boat and I processed the photos later on that night. I start to get down deep (Pixel Peeping) on the photos and again they are not clear. I do see a few things that stand out, the dorsal looks familiar. Then I see a rope, a red buoy, a black buoy. I dive down deeper on the dorsal and though some scar markings have changed some are the same, this could be NYC0071.
Now that I look at it more, I think we have a match, I am 95% sure this whale we met up with today IS NYC0071!!!
IF THIS IS TRUE...WHAT GREAT NEWS, NYC0071 IS STILL ALIVE!!!!
Yes, it’s still entangled, but it survived over the winter and spring entangled and it's back in the Big Apple.
I now have many phone calls and emails to make, but it's all good…NYC0071 is alive.
Here is the Dorsal from NYC0071 last year.
Dorsal from yesterday, I think it's a match!
A good crowd out on the “Atlantic Pearl,” American Princess Cruises' second whale watching boat. We charged out of Breezy and headed south. We were a good 7 miles out and met up with a lively pod of Dolphins. They were feeding and playing around and a few little ones in the pod. The crowd loved the dolphins, many ohhhs and ahhhs, but we got a call on a Humpback and we went in search for the whale.
We met up with a lazy humpback whale about a mile from the dolphins. This whale was in-between feedings and didn’t want to be bothered by a whale watching boat. The whale would take a few breaths and then dive deep for like 10 minutes at a time. Ten minutes is a long time waiting for whale to come up and take a breath! The whale did this like 5 times- we were a good distance out to sea and it was time to turn back.
We were right at the mouth of the Breezy Jetty, almost home, and the Captain makes a hard right. I was thinking “What’s going on here, we got some more action?” Why yes, yes we do, another pod of dolphins. These dolphins were very close to the beach. Like, in the surf 20 feet from the beach close. Very playful and not afraid of the big boat, they came right up to us and that doesn’t happen often. When the dolphins were close I noticed that there were some newborn calves in the pod- that’s always great to see.
The Captain called out “IT’S TIME TO GO” and we headed back to Riis Landing. Today's count was about 100 Dolphin and 1 deep diving Humpback Whale. Another successful Whale Watch by the great folks at the American Princess Cruises.
This is where they call the races from at Belmont. I was up here a few times in the early 70's when races were being called, very cool to stop back in.
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We headed out of Breezy and quickly came upon a Humpback Whale. It was a mellow humpback, maybe it was sleepy or sleeping (but it was not logging)? This whale had a routine- it was a few quick breaths on the surface followed by a long dive, and that happened a few times. We stayed with it, watching to see if it was going to wake up and it did not. Off in the distance there was another blow and then a breach. We now have another whale in the area and we speed over to investigate.
This second whale was lively and feeding. It did a couple of Lunge feedings and a tail slap. What’s cool about this second whale is that it was letting air slowly out of its blow holes as it was swimming. You could follow the whale by the bubble stream it was making. Staying very close to the surface then diving 20ft-40ft all the while letting air out. NOW – I have heard some people (well respected people) say on the boat that this whale was “Bubble Net Feeding” - it is/was not. I have been watching Whales here in NYC/LI since 2012 and I have never seen Humpback Whales here in NYC waters actually do “Bubble net feeding.” WHY? Because there is no need for the humpbacks to bubble net feed in NYC waters! The Bunker Fish are so thick in numbers around here it’s a waste of their time and the whales and I know this!!! That’s why, in NYC…it’s all lunge feeding.
As we were on this Humpback a pod of 40-50+ dolphins came by. The dolphins were in every direction and in the mix were days-old dolphin calves. These were so young you could see the fetal folds on the baby dolphins and I have to say they were incredibly cute. The ohhhs and ahhhs from the people on the boat were in unison when the little dolphins popped their heads up to get air. The dolphin show was a very good one but there was another blow-- a third blow. That makes 3 humpbacks so far, and we went to check it out.
So, it turns out there were two whales somewhat close to each other, it was Whale # 1 again and Whale #3. The 3rd whale was too far away from the boat, so we are now back with Whale number 1 and it woke up. As we were with whale #1 and #3, whale #2 was still in view and we saw two more blows way off.
It was getting late, time to turn back to port. We were out of time and could not investigate who whale #3, #4 and #5 were but still a very successful day. The count for today is 5 Humpbacks and 50+ Dolphins and another successful whale and dolphin watch on AP Cruises with Gotham Whale.
5-18-2018: An adolescent, 2-6 years old, 33-foot Female Humpback washed up on the barrier island beach called Long Beach in Nassau County on Long Island NY. A very populated area with a common center of interest: the beach. Cause of death – ship strike.
I went down to LB, parked and walked up the boardwalk ramp from the street and it was apparent where the dead whale was. You could not see the whale, all that could be seen was a crowd. I walked down the access ramp to the beach to get a closer look. I could now see the whale through the crowd. Walking up to the whale, a few things pop out at me, no authorities standing-on the whale and the amount of people around the whale.
People on the beach: I get into the photo process, asking people politely if they can move, and/or wait for the area to clear to get the shots. I was in total disbelief of what I saw. NOW – I know this is a big thing, and not a common occurrence: a humpback whale washed up on the beach. It’s a big draw and it is something to see up-close and personal. But to stand next to a whale and take photos with it is mind-blowing to me. There were many people feet away from the whale, some people were respectful. Others were kicking, touching, slapping and moving the whale. Someone removed a live whale barnacle from its body, another ripped a piece of skin off the whale and then dropped it on the sand. There was even a kid playing with a toy on and around the whale, he almost went in its mouth and tried to crawl under the whale’s peduncle. That is just crazy!
No authorities standing-on the whale: Now, I support and respect the blue line and “all" law enforcement agencies…period! A mistake was made here on the beach with this humpback whale via a no-show by law enforcement. I can only assume it starts with the LBPD. LB is its own city, “The City By The Sea.” It’s their beach, they have their own PD. Long Beach is a mess right now, times are tough and funds are low so maybe it was the city officials that handed down the orders to not to have the LBPD to stand-on the whale. It might have been NOAA telling LBPD not to stand-on the whale. NOAA in the USA governs all when it comes to whales. I don’t know who made the call or dropped the ball but again a mistake was made. (my opinion)
Here are few examples of what authorities have performed to keep the whale secure in other areas.
04-04-2017 Dead Humpback Whale washed up on Rockaway Beach, NY. NYPD and DEC and Park Rangers stood-on the Humpback Whale, the area taped off and secured by 100ft in all directions. There were large crowds, but they could not get close to the whale. Death by Ship Strike
12-26-2017 Dead Humpback Whale washed up on Atlantic Beach, NY. The NCPD stood-on the Humpback Whale that washed on a “Nassau County Beach”. Not a person, that I saw, was anywhere near that whale. There were people walking around but that’s it. Death by Ship Strike
05-04-2018 Dead Humpback Whale washed up on a Beach, NJ – Authorities stood-on the whale, no one approached. Death by Ship Strike.
05-18-2018 Dead Humpback Whale washed up on Long Beach NY. No police (LBPD) presence on the beach. The area around the Humpback not secured or roped off? Yes, there were construction cones, they did nothing. Death by Ship Strike. Also, the temporary headquarters for the LB Aux Police is on the same block as the dead humpback. I parked right in front of the LBPD Aux headquarters and walked past the front of that office to take pictures of this whale. A parked, unused AUX Police car was sitting there the whole time. They couldn’t do anything to secure the area?
I love to photograph humpback whales at their best, the lunge feedings and all the acrobatics they do. It is nuts, I am still in shock and awe that I can see it right here in these waters!! I despise taking pictures of them at their worst, dead on the beach like a piece of trash. Today I took the worst photos I can ever take of a Humpback Whale, very sad.
Saturday May 12th NOON, Conditions at the time of the cruise “GOOD” – DRY, cloudy/overcast, air temp 59, water temp 54, winds E-ESE 8-15, 1-2ft chop.
We met up with the first whale very quickly. It was the same one we saw on Sunday (the one that was almost hit by the boat off Sandy Hook). The whale was probably sleeping or just taking a break, waiting for conditions to get good for feeding. People were saying the whale was logging but it was not. “Logging” is a behavior that whales do when at rest and appear like "logs" on the surface. It is defined as laying without forward movement at the surface of the water with the dorsal fin or parts of the back exposed. The whale was not doing this- it was slowly moving, with short breaths and then dives that lasted 5+ minutes (just like the last time we saw the whale). Maybe the whale was waiting for the bunker to hit the surface, so it could start to feed. There were tons of bunker in the area, but they were on the bottom. We and the whales need the bunker on the surface and that’s when the lunge feeding happens, but not today and not with this whale.
All spotters on the boat noticed big splashes WAY off in the distance, very close to the shore, like 3+ miles away. Capt. Frank and I thought it was waves breaking on the Jetty. We are traveling in that direction and minutes go by. We all notice it’s not wave action, it's humpback whale action! We quickly motored over and met up with this very active Humpback Whale.
WOW, this whale was going nuts! The show for us started with some very powerful Peduncle throws or Tail Throws, also known as peduncling, a crack-the-whip rotation with its whole body, throwing its tail and Peduncle out of the water and sideways, ending in a giant splash. This whale did these Peduncle throws for almost an hour! Stopping only for air and setup, NON-STOP!!
We were on the whale for half an hour and the AP moved away to give the whale a break. WHAT DOES THE WHALE DO, IT FOLLOWS US! Man…this whale wanted to show off. The whale, at times, was very close to the boat. It did a Peduncle throw 15 feet from the front left side of the AP. Another time it was directly in front of the AP, I was on the pulpit looking down on this beautiful whale. I was waiting to get totally drenched from a Peduncle Throw but thankfully it didn’t do that, it kicked its tail and slowly did a shallow dive.
The whale switched gears to Pec Slapping and again it came very close to the boat. The close encounter started with the whale on the right side of the boat, then it came around the front and went to the left side and made a turn and went back the other way! It basically traveled in a half circle around the boat…TWICE!
The whale switched gears again and moved into tail lobbing, slapping its tail on the surface, making a very loud noise. The whale did this right side up AND upside-down, meaning it was slapping the top of its fluke on the water and then switching to slapping the bottom of its fluke on the water. While doing this he threw Peduncle throws into the mix here and there. WHEN IS THIS GOING TO STOP?
The whale changes it up again with some heavy Chin Slaps or Chin Lobbing. This is when the whale raises its head out of the water and slams or slaps it on the water surface. The whale took a little break and I know what’s next. My eyes and camera are locked to the surface and it happens A FULL BREACH. It was nuts, this whale almost made it all the way out of the water. It did a few belly breaches then a twisting breach into a backwards breach.
We were with the whale for an hour and a half and it performed non-stop acrobatic maneuvers (tail slapping, pectoral slapping, tail throws, breaches, chin slapping and breaches). My arms were killing me from just holding my cameras; this whale must be exhausted! We have had some epic days on the AP’s Whale and Dolphin Watch, but this truly was the best day on the AP since it started whale watching tours in 2011.
We pushed off at noon and headed out to sea. We came upon a small pod of dolphins off Rockaway and before we knew it there were two other dolphin pods meeting up with the small pod. An estimated dolphin count was at 70. They hung around the boat for a little while and then we saw a whale off in the distance and went to investigate.
We met up with this solo humpback whale- it did not look familiar right-off-the-bat. I knew we had a new whale to NYC waters; no need to look at the 77 flukes we have in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog. The whale was in a mellow mood, must have just finished feeding in the area and was taking a break. It took some deep, long dives and by doing that exposed its fluke a few times and that’s just what I need to get a good shot of its fluke for Identification.
The whale has healed rope scars on its body, peduncle stock and its fluke. This whale has been entangled and has shaken it off on its own or had help getting disentangled. I can’t give you the percentages, but I would say many of the whales we see have had run ins with some sort of fishing gear or a boat collision.
Looking closer at the fluke of this whale, and it is true, we have never seen this fluke before. Now I know the number this whale is getting, #NYC0078, but not the nickname. Before we pushed off, Capt. Tom said if we see a new whale we need to name it “CINCO”! Ahhh I love it, and makes perfect sense, for the day of the first Whale Watch of the season kicking off on “CINCO DE MAYO.” So the new whale gets a number in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog as #NYC0078 and a nickname “Cinco” as per captain's orders.
We stayed with Cinco the Humpback as long as we could and had to turn back, our time was up.
The inaugural Whale and Dolphin cruise saw 70 dolphins and one Humpback Whale, a great day out on the AP with GW.
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MY FAVORITE PIECE, THE NEW YORKER (No Photos) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/29/call-ishmael
ABC NEWS - Why whales are returning to New York City's once polluted waters 'by the ton'
Pew Trust - Support Pours In for Conserving Menhaden Along the Atlantic Coast
CBS NEWS - Boaters Warned About Possible Whale Entangled Off New Jersey Shore
Pew Trust - 5 Keys to Improving Ocean Health
Popular Science - Why whales are back in New York City
New Deeply- A Big Change in How a Small Fish Is Protected Could Help Save Whales
Times Union - Humpback whales return to NYC for the first time in a century
The New York Times - New York Today: A Wave of Whales
NOAA - Humans and Humpbacks of New York
Take Part - The Daily Wild: Nature’s Most Incredible Creatures
NY Post - Yes, you can go whale-watching in the Rockaways
NY Post - Dead humpback washes up on Long Island beach
The Ringer - The Joyous Homecoming for New York City’s Whales
PBS - Decision over a tiny baitfish could sway the largest East Coast fishery
MARCO - New York City Meeting Highlights Development of a Regional Ocean Action Plan for the Mid-Atlantic
The Times (UK) - Whales make splash in New York
SAC Whales Presentation- Dive Behavior of Humpback Whales off Northern California and Behavioral Response to Ships
WBSM -NOAA proposes removal of most humpback whale populations from endangered species list
The Breakthrough Institute - The Return of Nature
CIBBOWS - Sun, surf, and (whale) songs
LE TEMPS - A New York, le retour des baleines
Quest - Bultrug bezichtigt New York
Advertance - A New York, le retour des baleines
Greenwhic Time - Large numbers of humpback whales have returned to NYC for the first time in a century
Gothamist - Awesome Photo Of Humpback Whale Feeding Just Outside NYC Waters
Global News - More humpback whales spotted in waters off New York City
TIME - Gigantic Whales Eat Huge Amounts Thanks to 'Bungee-Cord' Nerves
The New Yorker - Call Me, Ishmael
CBS - There's a new tourist attraction in NYC: Whales
National Geographic - Menhaden, The Little Fish That Could—Won’t
Riverkeeper - Riverkeeper’s 2017 Victories
The Guardian - Cleaner New York waters see surge in whale and shark numbers
Newsday - Officials: Necropsy planned for humpback whale in East Atlantic Beach
Keep the ocean working - Citizen scientists share their data on whales and other marine mammals around New York Harbor to help make informed decisions and protect wildlife.
PopSugar- https://www.popsugar.com/celebrity/photo-gallery/35641161/image/35641171/City-Sighting
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A nice crowd on the American Princess Seal and Sea Bird watch today. Warmer weather, seals, sea birds, and the chance to see a rare sight of a humpback whale in Jamaica bay and/or NY Harbor was the draw.
Two guest photographers on board today: Chris Papparo aka “Fish Guy Photos”, and Wayne Herrschaft, LI’s uppermost concert photographer. Being on the AP as much as I am I get to see and meet some incredible and amazing photographers that frequent the AP Whale watches over the years. Very nice to see Frederic Strauss, Jessica Kirste, Trish Minogue Collins, Lisa Nadler-Reischer and Barbara Hartnett to name a few.
The seals were very sparse today and conditions were perfect at Swinburne Island. I think a boat came by before we arrived and got very close, making the seals scatter. There were about 10 seals around the island in total, a few Grey and the rest were Harbor Seals. 5 seals were on the rocks and others were in the water. We stayed with the seals a little while and headed towards South Beach, Staten Island to see all the action of the 350+ Northern Gannets going nuts diving into the water and to locate any more seals.
There were Lots of Birders on the boat today (it’s a Seal and Sea Bird Watch). Some to specifically see the Northern Gannets that were in big numbers in the area up-close. It’s always a show watching them dive at high speed from above. Folding their wings at the last second and crashing into the water like an arrow shot from the sky- it’s a very cool sight. The Gannets stole the show today, we usually don’t see this type of action until late fall.
We left the diving Gannets and back to Swinburne to see if any more Seals were in the area. Along the way there were seals around the boat and close at times, but they were feeding and stayed down most of the time. Nothing changed at Swinburne, so we left and went to Norton's Point Light to see if the Humpback Whale was around and if any seals were on the rocks of Sea Gate.
The Captains, Frank and Tom, always want the crowd to see what they came to see. Today was no different with that Humpback showing up at the AP dock yesterday. We were actively looking for that whale and spent an extra half-an-hour doing just that. Sadly, no whale today but the seals and birds were a big hit with the crowd. The Whale Watching season can’t get here fast enough!
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A good crowd on the American Princess today.
The Seal and Sea Bird watches on the American Princess today was perfect. Charged out of Riis landing and headed straight for Swinburne Island. We were met by 40-45 Harbor Seals and 4-5 Grey Seals. Some Seals hauled out on the rocks during the high tide showing us adorable expressions. There were some Seals frolicking in the water. The show was the seals that were in the water, they really put on a show!
Many birds out and about, but the Northern Gannets are in town and they were plunge-diving all over the place, always fun seeing them dive into the waters. Northern gannets dive vertically into the sea at velocities of up to 60 mph. The Gannets' plunge-dives are relatively shallow, but the Northern Gannet can dive as deep as 70 feet, it uses its wings and feet to swim deeper in pursuit of fish.
A great day out on the water today, can't wait for it to get warmer!
I picked up a GoPro and created a 7 second time lapse from today's 2 hour seal watch. Baby steps with the video format, but I am giving it a go.
Here are the photos.
We came around the old Swinburne docking pier, the rocks came into sight. There were the many seals sprawled out on the rocks of Swinburne. Very few seals in the water today but for the ones that were, it looked like they were having some fun. Lots of action by way of jumping, breaching and playing around the island, it looked like some were feeding. The rest of the seals were hauled out, very content in being high and dry on the rocks.
Today there were a lot Grey Seals on the island with an estimated 5-7. We're being told by seal experts that in time the Greys will build in numbers and will outnumber and push out the Harbor seals. But for now, the Harbor Seals rule Swinburne Island.
Times up and need to return to Riis Landing. Great day out on the American Princess with Gotham Whale, about 60 Harbor Seals and 5-7 Grey Seals were seen.
Nice weather, mostly cloudy, highs in the mid-40s. Northwest winds around 10 mph with gusts up to 25 mph, the Lower NY Harbor was showing a 1-foot chop at times. Over all, great conditions for an inaugural run!
A small crowd onboard ready for the 2 hour round trip run to Swinburne Island in Lower NY Harbor. It’s the perfect amount of time needed to get the seal watch in. You start out of Riis Landing and motor slowly towards Swinburne Island, taking in some great sights along the way like Coney Island, the Coney Island (Norton Point) Lighthouse and the NYC Skyline, to name a few.
We arrived at Swinburne island, and from the boat you can see, amongst the broken-down buildings, the place is packed with cormorants, sea gulls and other sea birds. The seals came into frame as soon as we came around the remains of the old docking pier on Swinburne. Not many Seals are in the area today, guessing 25 Harbor and 2 Grey, but the ones that were there were feisty and very very playful! I would rather have 25 playful seals going nuts jumping and breaching than 90 seals sunning themselves doing nothing. We had a blast watching the seals play all around the boat, spent about 40 minutes with the seals and it was time for our trip back to Riis Landing.
Today was a success and a great kickoff to the 2018 season!
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The sub-adult 30ft Humpback Whale was found on Breezy Point beach NY, the whale was washed up dead. It’s unknown how long the whale was there on the beach, but it looks like it was not there long.
Upon review of these and other photos of the stranded and deceased humpback it looks like, while this whale was alive, at some point was heavily entangled? The whale has scars over the body and the white scar/stripe on the peduncle ridge between the dorsal and tail stock can be from rope or fishing gear netting cutting into the whale that has healed. In the photos you can’t really see too well because of the sand if there are fish trap or fishing gear scars on the tail stock. Almost all photos I take of live juvenile or Sub-adults we see around here have entanglement scars where the peduncle and the tail stock meet.
The scar marks on the dorsal is another story or theory. The markings look to me like it was a shark or an orca and I think it was an orca. We often see teeth marks or rake markings made from orcas harassing the whales when they were smaller. It’s almost always on the Pectoral fins and the flukes but I never have seen a rake mark on the dorsal fin on the NYC whales? I have seen humpbacks with missing dorsals, but they were not associated with the tell-tale orca rake markings from their teeth.
Here is my take, this Humpback whale was alive and was entangled. The fishing gear or entanglement really curbed the whale’s actions to get away or actively protect itself from an attack. Because of the entanglement orcas picked on the weak and harassed the whale, biting the dorsal and leaving the rake markings. The scars on the dorsal show the wound was healing.
How the whale died is to be determined. The necropsy reports of this and the others that recently happened here on Long Island and NYC performed by the AMCS are to be reviewed by the investigation team put together by NOAA prior to release. The necropsy reports should be released in March/April when they are released there will be an update.
An event hosted by Gotham Whale, All Our Energy, Surfrider Foundation - Central Long Island Chapter, Oceana - New York, Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and Atlantic Marine Conservation Society took place at the Long Beach public Library on February 7th, 2018. Six short films were shown that highlight the grassroots resistance taking place across the US, as well as stories from past oil and gas exploration – including the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
In January 2018, the government proposed a new offshore oil drilling plan that would open up nearly 90% of all U.S. waters to offshore oil drilling, including New York. This plan threatens our coastal ecosystems, economies, and way of life, putting New York's coastal communities, beaches, surf breaks, and marine ecosystems, including all fishing grounds, along with whale and dolphin feeding and transit areas, at serious risk of catastrophic oil spills and economic decimation. If you didn’t know, America’s publicly owned waters will be turned over to the oil companies at the highest bid.
The methods used for searching for oil alone may have devastating affects on the mammals living in those mapping areas. Read up here Will Atlantic Ocean Oil Prospecting Silence Endangered Right Whales?
NY State is holding its own hearing on offshore oil drilling on Long Island. There will be a press event and rally before the hearing, starting at 9:45AM. Interested in going? Here's the information
Photos from last night's event.
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Here is the fluke that Gotham Whale used to ID #NYC0056.
I did extensive searches via the internet and could not find one news article on it! I did however find a few photos of the necropsy that was in a private blog here. Below is a photo from that blog “Photo credit Helen Belencan” There are a few other photos so please check out their blog Helen Belencan & Gary Smith, aka HBandMe
Look at the markings in the above photo and below photo, they are unfortunately a match.
Here are photos from an encounter with #NYC0056 as seen from the deck of the American Princess with Gotham Whale off Rockaway NY.
Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) was down today doing the necropsy on the beached humpback whale in East Atlantic Beach - West Long Beach area. All hands on deck for this one- the more hands the faster it will go and that’s really good news for these AMCS workers! This whale looked to be in good shape but it's been a while since it was alive, and the smell is overwhelming to say the least!
NYS DEC was there to keep the peace (no problems had) and TOH workers were there to bury the whale’s carcass after AMCS is done with the Necropsy. The TOH DPW dug a very deep hole in the sand and when AMCS is done doing its research on the whale carcass gets buried in that deep hole on the beach.
Tons of onlookers are coming and going, News12 and all the NYC News stations were on the sidelines broadcasting from the scene.
There really is not much to say except AMCS started the necropsy, they are taking many samples and photos. All the samples get evaluated in many different ways to determine many things, but one is what we all want and need to know…How did this sub-adult female humpback whale die? Was it a ship strike? An entanglement? Did it digest plastic? Or was it natural causes? In 2-7 months we might just find out!
I love taking photos of healthy, live humpback whales doing their acrobatic moves here in the waters of LI and NYC, aka the Western NY Bight. You can follow me to see these photos on facebook, Instagram and twitter
If you didn't know I also am the Photographer and Photo Curator of the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog for Gotham Whale and you can follow them here.
Email [email protected] for photo and blog usage.
Email [email protected] for photo and blog usage.
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Got a call on a humpback whale that was deceased and washed up on the shore of the barrier island of Long Beach/Atlantic Beach, Long Island N.Y.
I called in to the USCG Station in Jones Beach and Atlantic Marine Conservation Society to let them know about the whale. I arrived at the spot and saw the sad sight of the beached humpback whale. NCPD was at the scene and they backed up the fact that all authorities were contacted about the beached whale.
The female humpback whale looks to be an estimated 31-foot and in somewhat good shape physically; by this I mean no big scars or open wounds that I could see. I could not see its back or top of the whale because it was on its back.
The Sea Lice has dried up and died and the barnacles looked to be drying out. Coronula diademais, a species of whale barnacle only known to live on humpback whales (maybe sperm whales and finback whales also)- they are the big white barnacles on this whale. The long thing hanging off the white barnacles are another type of barnacle and they are called gooseneck barnacles.
I cleared the sand off the tail to get the fluke print so as to maybe get a match in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog. Later I looked at the fluke shots and this humpback whale's fluke is not in the NYC HWC catalog.
Gotham Whale , NCPD, and AMCS will be on the scene all day, we will keep all in the loop on what is happening.
A very sad sight to see! I personally hate taking photos of deceased whales but it has to be done! R.I.P.
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Here is the setup: many whales were out there on this day. It was towards the end of the day and I am heading back to the inlet. Off shore I see a humpback doing some tail slapping and pectoral fin slapping with a few small breaches or half breaches, throwing water all around and splashing. I charge out to get some photos of this humpback and quickly I see that it's two humpbacks, not one. They were very close to each other, making a ruckus, mostly pectoral slapping and from the looks of it I must guess they are having fun. These whales are not in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog yet, they were numbered as NYC0073 (nicknamed KLECKO) and NYC0074.
Not needed to be said, but I am going to say it anyway: I always respect the whale's space. I adhere to the guidelines of Whale SENSE for “commercial whale watching boats” and See a spout watch out from NOAA. I always give the whales as much room as they need. If they come to my boat and get close, it’s on their terms. It is never forced.
(In the photo below NYC0073 is on the right, NYC0074 is on the left.)
Whale NYC0073 (#73) was getting very close to whale NYC0074 (#74), pectoral slapping all the way. As #73 is getting closer he gently hits #74 with his pectoral fin. #74 reacts with trying to slap #73 back but doesn’t connect. A few minutes later #73 hits #74 with its pectoral fin again and #74 tries to hit back #73 but can't, it was out of position once again. This game of tag goes on for a half hour; #73 misses a few times with its slaps and #74 might have gotten one slap in. They were going in big slow circles while this was going on. My boat was out of gear with the engine running, they knew I was there but they didn’t care.
(Photo below #73 hitting #74)
#73 hits #74 again and #74 must have had it with getting hit or maybe wanted to change up the game. So, whale #74 set itself up in front and very close to whale #73, lifted its tail and slapped the water and followed through down into the water and bopped #73 on its head with its very large tail...while it was under water. As Whale #73's head was underwater and when it was hit by the tail slap it let out a very big bubble blast! I was thinking to myself hmmm, this could go either way! I might see a whale fight, or is this funny to #74 and they are playing? Only the whales know what's going on, it’s not like I see this every day??
After the tail slap to the head #74 did get a little more aggressive towards #73 and they both chased each other in circles, it still was a slow chase, but it looked more serious now, fun or not.
(photos below #74 bopping #73 on the head)
During the chase they were getting closer and closer to my boat, pectoral fin slapping the water the whole way. It came to the point where they were getting close, too close. I was thinking that on the next pass as they are circling they might hit the boat or me as they are slapping the water. I don’t want any part of this. I start to bang on the side of the boat. As I was making some noise I could clearly see they were surprised that I was there by their reactions. They heard me loud and clear and contorted their bodies so as to not hit me or the boat. They kicked their tails, moved over 50 feet and went right back to pectoral fin slapping and the slow chase.
This went on for some time. I was out all day, and now it’s time to go home and process these photos. I turned and went back in leaving the two humpbacks to chase each other in peace.
(photo below #74 on left #73 on the right)
On #74’s back you can see a scratch from being brushed against by the barnacles on the end of #73’s pectoral fin.
On #73’s pectoral fin you can see a few cuts from brushing against the barnacles on #74’s body.
Important was happening on the 2nd so I pushed the date back a few days! The Marine Animal Entanglement Response team (MAER) from the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) was back in Long Beach this Saturday looking for NYC0071, the entangled whale. Yes, the very same whale they tried to disentangle on Sunday, November 12th, 2017.
After the first rescue attempt Read here...Rescue effort for Humpback Whale NYC0071 from CCS and USCG off Long Beach, N.Y.) I was asked to monitor the whale because the rope that is wrapped around the top half of the jaw may have been nicked by the pole knife on the last rescue attempt by MAER and could have come off? Since that first rescue attempt, I have seen Humpback Whale NYC0071 off Long Beach and the Rockaways a few times. The rope is still wrapped around the whale, it is in the same exact entangled situation as before. I relayed this information to CCS’s MAER team and they are here for another rescue attempt with an operating window of 5 hours and a start time of 8am.
Saturday morning, it was a very cold start to the day and the boat was covered in frost. But bright sunshine, no wind and it was forecasted to be a warm Dec 2nd day of 50 degrees. The sea conditions were flat, and the ocean was calm. It was one of those days where you can spot a humpback whale blow miles away, just perfect.
I asked Tim O’Connor to come out and help spot for humpback whales. We pushed off at 8am on the SHIP OF FOOLS and met up with the USCG Vessel 45706 out of Jones Beach right off ER Inlet. I said hello and told them I would run between Jones Beach Inlet (JB), East Rockaway (ER) Inlet and Ambrose Channel (AC) looking for NYC0071. As I am speaking with the USCG, I see the CCS's little inflatable with the writing “Coastal Studies” a ¼ mile away. I run over, say hello to the team and tell them my plan to help, ask what channel they are working on as to monitor the action and if I find the whale I can radio the Lats and Longs of the location and the rescue of NYC0071 is on.
I start my spotting trek out of ER Inlet. I run East, close to the beach all the way to the JB inlet and see nothing. We stayed at the Inlet for a good 20 minutes and see nothing. I run West from JB Inlet to Ambrose by the Pilot boat, a good 18-mile run, and see nothing along the way. I have a great view of the whole channel all the way to Sandy Hook and up to Breezy, we stay for 20 minutes and not a blow. We charge from Ambrose to the beach off Rockaway and make our way east to ER Inlet and again see nothing. WOW, I just did a 40+ mile loop and saw nothing. There is not one Humpback Whale in the area!
After hours of looking, I make my way back to the USCG and CCS’s MAER team in the inflatable. I tell them there’s not a Humpback Whale in the area, and I am going back in. I thank both teams for trying to help the whale for the second time.
As I am halfway between home and the last spot I left the CCS team and the USCG vessel, I hear on the radio that they spotted a whale. OH MAN, I am still in the game. I turn the boat around and hammer the throttle and meet up with the rescue team. I asked where the whale was, as to not get in the way and they radio back to me it was a Minke Whale not a Humpback Whale. At this point both crews are wrapping up the rescue attempt and going back in.
Not all rescue attempts work. There are many things that must align to make it all work and be successful. We had all in our favor except for the fact the whale NYC0071 was not found. NYC0071 has been in this area since Nov 3rd, I guess it was time for the whale to move on. All the credit goes to the CCS MAER and the USCG for trying to help an entangled humpback whale.
I love photographing Humpbacks and am still blown away that since 2013 humpback whales are here so close to my home! The number of photos I have taken of these humpbacks are impressive, I get out as much as possible. Over the years I have photographed entangled Humpbacks and Right whales here in this area. I am very thankful to be involved in the rescue attempts for both this whale NYC0071 and Reynolds the Whale.
]]>I need to say it was an honor and a privilege to be part of this operation, it was an incredible opportunity. I had no idea how much preparation, man hours and hard work it takes to go from start to finish on a situation like this.
The start time for briefing was 6am and mission start time was 7am to 6pm.
7am all boats leave dock and confirm entering zones for survey by name and number.
Once survey is complete, confirm with survey control where you are to proceed.
Command will confirm message and give further instructions or if whale was found.
Mission – Find the whale via four search teams on different boats. The vessel names are “SHIP OF FOOLS” (with DEC NYS ECON PO Laczi, Paul Sieswerda, director of Gotham Whale and me). “Never Enough,” “SPLASH 1,” and “SPLASH 2.” When whale is found, search teams back away and the herding teams take over and heard the whale to the AB Bridge with the search teams backing up the herding teams.
Agencies involved - Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, Gotham Whale, NOAA, SPLASH, The Nature Conservancy, WCS, International Fund for Animal Welfare, US Coast Guard, East Rockaway Fire Dept. Fire Boat, Town of Hempstead Bay Constable, Nassau County Police Marine Bureau boats, Nassau County Police Aviation Helicopter N604PD, DEC NYS ECON Police in three boats and NC State University.
This was a very big group effort and all resources were ready to help.
The search team - Responsible to survey a specific area of the inner bays and Reynolds channel from AB Bridge to LIRR Bridge for Reynolds the Humpback Whale. If the whale is observed, stop survey and monitor animal from a distance. Call in, report the sighting with location name and number, and include latitude and longitude. Record animal behavior and dive duration. Indicate direction of travel and depth of water in the area. If not, text findings every 15 minutes to survey coordinator.
My detail was to survey the numbered areas on the "East Bay Crew" map below. 7-Hewlett Bay, 8-Auerbach Canal, 6-Swift creek and Ramscal Channel and 5-Broad Channel. On the SOF was DEC NYS ECON Police Office Evan Laczi, Gotham Whale director Paul Sieswerda and me.
(Photo Credit AMCS)
OFF SUBJECT and a very good fact - DEC NYS ENCON PO Evan Laczi that is on my boat for this operation was the Captain of the first vessel from Wednesday's "Operation Reynolds" to try and push "Reynolds the whale" out to the open ocean. Here is video of PO Evan Laczi in action from Wednesday:
Herding team – DEC NYS ECON Two boats and the NCPD. Their object: Motivate the whale to continue a forward direction west through the Atlantic Beach Bridge and through the East Rockaway Inlet into the ocean.
Support and command - Ensure the safety of the responders, the whale and the public. Communicate with federal, state and local authorities to ensure information is shared. Work with NOAA, NYS DEC , and local support through a Joint Information Center (JIC) to communicate information to the public.
Mission started - 7am- it was beautiful out! Not a breath of wind, nice sunrise and for this time of year somewhat warm, it’s going to be a good day! How can it not be there are a slew of people trying to help a whale get out of a bad situation.
The area I am searching I-KNOW-WELL, above and below the water. I know where I can go with my boat and where I can’t at different tide/water levels. I also could figure out the same where the whale can go and can’t go, the whale and my boat can get in and out in the same depth of water and this helps me judge where I think I should look in my area.
First area Hewlett Bay, my home town of Bay Park and it's where I dock my boat! I run over to the NCPD Marine Bureau Marina Cove. The humpback was in the cove on Monday- it might go back? The whale is taking breaths every 5 minutes, so you need to go to an area and watch for a blow for at least 10 minutes. This went on all day, running through my survey areas back and forth, in and out of channels and back bays looking for a lost whale called Reynolds.
Around 900am I see Nassau County Police Helicopter N604PD flying around and I hear on the radio they are locating whales from the air that are out in the ocean. HELO N604PD is directing the AMSC Boat to those whales. The AMSC boat gets to the whale, takes a photo of them and then makes sure the whales they are with is or isn’t Reynolds the Whale. We can see the helicopter's location and hear the communication on the radio. No matches, the operation is still on!
While this is going on, Gotham Whale has its own support team. On land we have Tim O’Connor and Trish Minogue Collins at the AB Bridge giving us details of what’s happening there. Karen Dinan and others are hitting us up on Facebook with updates and whale happenings that are going on out in the ocean. Catherine Granton from Gotham Whale is working social media, informing us of anything new on that front. Countless others are reaching out, supporting us via all social media outlets on helping Reynolds the whale, Thanks to all who did!
It's 1030am and the weather has gone downhill, wind is picking up, the bay is getting choppy, the clouds moved and it's getting cold! Got a text from control, all teams are standing down- it appears the whale is not in the area! Mission is called off at 11am, time to make it back to the dock.
Let’s hope the humpback whale called Reynolds is out to sea and never comes back! The last known report of “Reynolds the Whale” was reported by Tim O’Connor and me yesterday off Magnolia Pier in Long Beach, and let’s hope it stays that way! BUT…Just in case!! Gotham Whale and others will continue to monitor the area and hope we have nothing to report!
UPDATE - December 19th 2017. Reynolds the whale has not been seen in the back bays and waterways of Western Nassau County, nor since the rescue attempt, in the ocean. It is with 100% confidence I can say this whale high-tailed it out of this area, and that's a happy ending!
No impactful photos because we didn’t find the whale, and it’s all ok by me!
On a side note -While we were out we did see a few seals and one was very close to the boat.
No Fluke for the Reynolds the whale but here are the dorsals. Please take photos of humpbacks seen off the beach or boats in the LI/NYC/NNJ area and send them to Paul Sieswerda at [email protected]. Paul will reply with the exact directions on what he needs for the sighting...there's a beer in it for you. NO, REALLY!
The first effort by the DEC was valiant and I appreciate that an effort was at least exercised. It failed because it was one boat, lacking backup support due to it being a “Monitoring Operation.” There needs to be monitoring time, but it’s been more than 10 days, everyone knows where we are at. It’s now “time to take action.”
Condition:
I searched every photo from the past months' whale watches taken on the SHIP OF FOOLS and The American Princess, I have not one photo of this humpback in the ocean…NOT ONE??? I need to look again, I have to have one.
The whale is a Humpback Whale. A Juvenile, approximately 32ft-37ft long, they hide their size and weight well.
I saw pictures of the whale feeding on Facebook, can’t 100% confirm if it is “Reynolds the Whale” lunge feeding inside Reynolds channel, but this is promising. There’s food around for him to eat if he wants.
The whale’s back is scratched up due to getting caught under the docks in Mill River on Wednesday. I have seen other whales in the ocean in so much worse condition and have seen them year after year since their accidents. I am not downplaying its condition- I do think it’s still in good shape.
Its breathing is at a 4-5-minute blow pattern. I have only heard it trumpet slightly by the AB Bridge and in Mill River. It may have calmed down, but it could still be in a panic mode or not?
My take and observations on helping Reynolds:
The weather and this big blow is keeping some boats from going in and out of the AB Bridge area, that’s real good!
An official agency needs to “Stand on” the whale for the safety of both the whales and boaters.
That whale is afraid to go UNDER the AB Bridge. I can see it in its actions. Opening the center of the drawbridge span might just let the whale move out on its own? I honestly think that with the center span of the drawbridge open the whale will see or sense that it’s not being “covered” and make a charge to safety.
Agencies need to corral the whale (like the DEC, Scott and I did) or wait for the perfect timing and All official boats need push the whale out in unison.
There needs to an official boat on both the West and the East side of the AB Bridge stopping boat traffic or regulating speed and direction.
Coordinating this with times of outgoing tide would be best.
Maybe songs of Atlantic Humpback Whales being played on the west side of the bridge could help lure the whale towards the sound. YES, It sounds 100% ridiculous, but it can’t hurt?
Obstacles:
The LIRR bridge in LB is so much smaller and there is really one small opening to get through, I saw the whale right by it on Wednesday, it didn’t even investigate the option of going under or through. If it made it to the east side of the LIRR Bridge, there is a lot of shallow water and less of a channel to navigate and TWO other bridges to get under.
Reynolds joining channels- There are flats off Reynolds channel. The entrances to Browser bay and Hewlett Bay via Broad Channel and Woodsburgh Channel Park are very shallow in spots. Bannister is deep and it's already been inside along with Hog Island, East Rockaway Channels and Mill River. HI and ER Channels are deep, Mill River not so much.
This is not a Moriches Whale situation. If the whale does get stranded the tide cycles here can bring in water deep enough (4-5+feet) for the Humpback to maneuver back out of that area, unlike the Moriches situation. BUT if nothing is done I really think this whale will end up like the Moriches Whale.
Look at chart to see the areas and its depths.
Charts of the area here http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/12352_02.shtml
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Since last week I have been getting reports and seeing mentions of a Humpback in Reynolds channel. Reynolds channel is a very wide and deep channel, I use it daily to get to East Rockaway Inlet and out to sea to photograph whales. I have navigated it all my life and I have never heard of a humpback being in the channel. I stayed away from posting or bringing attention to the fact that there is a Humpback Whale in Reynolds channel, but when NOAA acknowledges this whale via social media, the word is out. This whale looks to be new to the NYC/LI area, it was given number NYC0072 and a name “Reynolds.” I thought Reynolds would pop out under the AB Bridge and out into ER inlet and be on its way by now- not the case!
When an event happens with a humpback I always call the USCG, inform them of my name, the situation, my boat name and phone number, then I call Gotham Whale director Paul Sieswerda, and depending on the situation with the whale and its condition I contact the correct organization. During the CCS and USCG entangled whale rescue attempt on Sunday Nov 9th I thought I saw the Reynolds Whale in ER Inlet just east of the AB bridge. I didn’t take photos due to being in route to NYC0071’s event. When the rescue was going on off Long Beach I was getting phone calls on the Reynolds whale. I was with the USCG and they along with the NCPD were informing me of the updates with it.
It's sunset on Tuesday, and I get a call from a friend Jay. Jay says that there a whale under his boat in his marina in Mill River in East Rockaway! NO WAY! I hammer the throttle and this is where I love owning a Formula Boat, they are fast and get there quickly. On the way I radioed the USCG and called GW.
I get to the location of where Reynolds is, it's 5ish and dark…daylight savings SUCKS!!!! I scream over to the dock where Jay is at, “where is the whale?” They scream back it's coming towards you and it’s been here for a while. Ahhh, this is not good. They were right, the whale is heading right at the boat. My boat is loud- Reynolds passes the boat and turns for the opening to ER Channel. This is good! With the help of the direction from Jay and people on the shore we push the whale out with my boat, respectfully and not endangering the whale. A big thank you to Jay Zeilberger for the call! Here is a link to Jay's video this is how Reynolds scraped up its back!
I immediately call Paul Sieswerda, giving him a play by play, and then call the director of Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMSEAS) on his cell. I get Rob on the phone and he is down in DC with the AMSFC Menhaden vote. Now, I was invited down to DC for this menhaden vote by Pew Trust to represent GW, but I passed on the opportunity. I must stay here and document whales in NY and I am glad I did! Off subject, I digress… In conversation I give Rob the Lats and Longs on Reynolds the whale’s location. Rob informs me of the operation details for tomorrow and I go home slowly.
It’s noonish on Wednesday and I meet up with AMSEAS on a TOHBC boat along with Scott McInnis on his boat, and his passenger Mike Busch is manning a camera for documentation. That whale pretty much stayed in the same spot I left him the night before, again it's deep water with a very wide channel. Together the three boats pushed the humpback from East Rockaway channel into Reynolds... Operation “Save Reynolds” is in motion! When we arrived at Reynolds channel (see why its name is Reynolds) we met up with the New York State's Environmental Conservation Police Officers (DEC). For Operation “Save Reynolds" I ran in front of the whale (giving up a position to take photos and being the “bad guy”) to inform boaters to slow down. I hailed captains on CH68, worked with the air horn of my boat and at times yelling…FYI I am extremely loud! As always, most captains comply and for those that didn’t when they saw the TOHBC and the DEC they slowed down. At about 2:30 the TOHBC left the scene with AMSEA on board.
The DEC, Scott and I pushed the whale all the way to the Atlantic Beach Bridge and this is when it got a little crazy! High tide at the bridge was 436pm, we arrived at the bridge around 3pm. There are some shallows in that area, especially at the Bannister Creek entrance, which is adjacent to the AB Bridge and Nassau Parkway. Reynolds the whale was right at the bridge on the north span and looking to get out to the ER Inlet side (west) of the bridge but keeps on the east side (Reynolds channel side). It’s getting nervous and for the first time lets out a trumpeting sound and in a mad dash the whale turns around, almost hitting Scott's boat. The whale is touching bottom and powers its way out of the shoal which is like 2 feet deep and gets to deep water, giving it a rest. Reynolds now goes to the other side of the channel, running aground again. This time I get worried for the safety of this whale but quickly it again powers out.
Reynolds is now in Bannister Creek; it’s a deep channel all the way in but its sides are shallow. The whale takes a rest and stays in the channel with 20ft of water under him. The whale takes a break, gets it together and comes back out to Reynolds. At that time there were a few more boats and the whale started heading west back into Reynold channel. Seeing this, I opted out of Operation “Save Reynolds.” At 330pm I left the whale and went out to see if I could find NYC0071 the entangled whale from Sunday. I saw a few whales, but none are NYC0071, so I went back in to see Reynolds.
Its 430pm, and all boats are gone except for the DEC, and I move back into “Save Reynolds” mode. Soon the USCG shows up. I quickly point out the whale is directly in front of them in the main span of the AB Bridge, just feet from freedom! The USCG charges at the whale, trying to scare it through. There is a boat on the other side coming in and the USCG must back down, it’s a busy inlet.
The USCG was there for 20 minutes or so and they bolted from the scene, leaving the DEC and I to man the operation at the bridge.
The whale was pacing back and forth, going from shore to shore on the east side of the bridge. Peeking its head up at almost every span of the bridge. Maybe it's getting its nerve up to go under and out to the relative safety of ER Inlet and then the Ocean! The only way I can explain what this looks like is have you ever seen an animal, like a dog, that’s so afraid to go down stairs? It starts to pace back and forth and freaks out a little- that’s what going on here. I can clearly see this is what is happening, and I think the DEC captain sees this as well. The DEC boat is west of the bridge in Reynolds Channel, the whale is between the DEC boat and the bridge. The Captain (I am guessing and paraphrasing) says FUCK IT, NOW'S THE TIME! He starts making moves, big moves with his boat! And the action really starts to happen.
The DEC is making calculated moves with his boat to prod or nudge Reynolds the whale to freedom. Doing maneuvers with the boat that are helping to get this whale moving and it is working, it's moving. The whale is trying to get out but it's scared and still can’t make the decision to charge out under one of the spans! This goes on for some time and for a small moment of time we all believed the whale would make it to the other side. That inclination was short lived, we saw the whale's blow on the west side- nothing has changed. This whale is being held captive inside Reynolds.
The video below is of the DEC trying to move the whale out under the bridge- after hours of waiting and watching the whale, this happens! I am on the phone having a conversation with Paul Sieswerda, director of Gotham Whale, Paul is the other voice in the video. It was exciting and you can hear it in my voice, I was thinking this whale is moving out to sea as I was on the phone and that didn't happen!
As of 530pm on Thursday Nov 16th "Reynolds the whale" is still in on the wrong side of the Atlantic Beach Bridge! IT IS STILL IN DANGER!
I have my ideas on helping Reynolds the whale, so does everyone else! It’s easy to sit back and point fingers during and after the fact and bring up past situation of rescues and local stranding. Here is the fact - Something still needs to happen if the whale can’t get out. What was learned from the Moriches whale's death? A “real” concerted effort from law enforcement and Whale organizations that can help...need to help the whale. For example, the USCG, DEC, NYS Park police, TOHBC, Long Beach Marine Police, NCPD Marine and Aviation, LBFD, ABFD, SPLASH and add here ______ any agency you want that’s missing. Have one organization coordinate maneuvers on what needs to be done to help the whale. Keep boaters away from the whale so as not to interfere with the rescue effort. Open that main span of the bridge so that whale can see the opening (see sunlight not a shadow). Get the whale to the right position in the center span while it's open and make that whale move out with the government boats. Sounds like a long shot. Not really- it almost happened about 5 times when I was with the whale, what was missing was a fleet of helpers and the center was closed! That's my take...
Photos and video copyrighted and owned by Artie Raslich Photography. They are not posted any other place but here, think twice before you lift them.
]]>I was out on the SHIP OF FOOLS November 3rd and met up with a Humpback Whale. I got a great fluke shot, and looked at it on the camera... it didn’t look familiar. Being the curator of the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog for Gotham Whale, I have all the fluke photos. I looked through them and no match. This is a new whale, it is now numbered NYC0071 and here are the Fluke and Dorsals right and left.
I got home and am looking at all the photos in detail on the computer, I noticed that NYC0071 was entangled in fishing gear! Immediately I call the CCS MAER Director Scott Landry and Paul Sieswerda, Director of Gotham Whale. I described NYC0071’s condition and sent over pictures. CCS then informs “ALL” who need to know about the entanglement, everything is covered with that. He also asks if I could not involve the press and keep this as quiet as I can, and I obliged.
NYC0071’s condition - Good news for NYC0071 is that it's big and fat! It is lunge feeding, breaching, its tail is free, and its pectoral fins look to be clear. It is doing everything a normal humpback would do. Bad news for NYC0071 is that the fishing gear is wrapped at least once around its Rostrum (roof of its mouth, upper jaw) across the blow hole and is deep in its mouth by the hinge of its jaw. It’s not trailing much rope or netting. This whale looks to be entangled for some time because there are healed rope scars on its rostrum and jaw.
From NOV 3rd to Nov 11th I went looking for NYC0071, found the whale and updated CCS and GW on the condition via email and phone. On Thursday November 9th I got a call that the CCS team was coming down to help NYC0071 get free of its fishing gear and should be here by Sunday, November 12th and will be pushing off the dock in the morning around 7am.
Its Sunday, November 12th, and CCS MAER is here!! The CCS MAER team is in an inflatable boat with a 20hp engine. On the MAER inflatable are Scott Landry manning the motor and Bob Lynch in the front manning the pole with the knife and a grappling hook attached to an Anchor Buoy. The USCG and I are running coverage from passing boats, on lookout for the whale and directing the CCS MAER team to the location of NYC0071. On the USCG Vessel are the USCG members along with Maria Harvey of CCS MAER Team, I am solo on the SHIP OF FOOLS documenting the day.
The ocean conditions were perfect, waves 0ft-1ft, glassy and no wind. It was too perfect! There were so many boats out fishing, like…500 boats from Jones Beach to East Rockaway inlet and all were fishing for Striped bass. Where the bunker is, the Bass, the Whales and the fisherman are. NYC0071 was right in the mix of the fishing boats and as you know not all people have common sense. And that’s why the USCG and I were there, to block the few from driving over NYC0071 or getting in the way of the rescue effort of NYC0071.
Quickly the rescue teams found NYC0071 and CCS went to work trying to help cut the rope off the whale. The inflatable was close, very close, all day long. There were two plans of attack to get this whale free. One was the knife on the pole tactic and that was what they were doing most of the day. The other was the grapple with an anchor buoy, where the grapple is thrown and hooks onto the dragging fishing gear. It tires the whale out, so they can get close and might help to loosen the gear and disentangle the whale.
Hours went by with many attempts to catch the rope on top of NYC0071. All the while the whale traversed in and out of fishing boats lunge feeding along the way. Back and forth many times from the shallows on the beach to 35 feet on the outside and East to West from between Long Beach and Lido West.
At 3:45pm NYC0071 slipped out of sight, this time for a good amount of time. I charged to the west looking and locating 4 other whales, the USCG was doing the same to the east. The inflatable went to the beach to see if NYC0071 was there. NYC0071 ended up giving all of us the slip!
The sun was setting, and due to the unfavorable weather forecast for our area the CCS MAER team went home…The rescue effort for NYC0071 has ended. On one of the last attempts Bob did catch the rope with the knife either partially cutting or fully cutting one of the ropes. This is very good news because the rope may now have less tensile strength and break sometime in the future or the rope is cut.
Thank you for what you do, it was an incredible attempt and effort by the Marine Animal Entanglement Response team from the Center for Coastal Studies and the United States Coast Guard on NYC0071!!!
You want to help whales out here in NYC and Long Island? If you are out in the waters off NYC and Long Island or on the beach and see a Whale, take a picture and send it in. Help Gotham Whale out with their WANTED PROGRAM. It may not seem to be a big deal but the information really helps us out AND there's a beer in it for you! Read here: Gotham Whale Wanted Program
Check out my Instagram page at NYC WHALE PHOTGRAPHER, Facebook at Artie Raslich, or on Twitter at nycwhalephotographer
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The conditions looked good on the reports 1-2 ocean swell light winds. WRONG! It was 2-3ft and building in 2-3 second chop. The wind was out of the east and it was picking up and that sucks! It’s not a good sign when you’re heading out of the inlet and parade of boats are heading in!
We were 5 minutes out of the inlet and I turn to Andrea and said did you hear that, what the hell was that. A second later a blow, A VERY BIG BLOW! We have found the whales but that’s not a humpback’s blow. The blow is way too big, like 30 feet tall and skinny and it was pure white? It looked like there were two whales and between blows there was some distance. So, they were moving fast and I have seen this before a few times. Once in Montauk on the CRESLI Whale Watch and in NYC waters on the SHIP OF FOOLS this year. I am very confident it was two Fin Whales off Rockaway. And, that’s the second time this season.
We spent a good amount trying to locate the whales after seeing a bunch of blows, no go, those whales are gone which makes me believe even more that they were 100% Finback Whales!
The sun was getting low, I went and located some Dolphins. I keep saying, this has been the best year for Inshore Bottlenose Dolphins in this area! Came upon a pod of 8 Dolphins, they were unafraid of the boat and at times they were 5 feet from the boat. This pod had a few adult dolphins with very young claves and were very playful. The sun just set, and it was getting dark quick, we watched the dolphins circle the boat and when the coast was clear, we went in.
A good day, a nice sunset 12-15 dolphin and 1-2 Finback whales (no photos of the Fins)
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Went out of ER inlet and we got on a whale quick. It was a lazy whale, going at its own speed and passing on some serious bunker pods, this whale was in sleep mode or it must have just eaten. I gave it some room as we ate our breakfast.
Time went by, breakfast was eaten and the whale we had our eyes on started to wake up, getting more active by the minute. When it did its first lunge feeding, it was game on.
We were in the middle of a large bunker pod, and I see the whale has turned towards the boat. I said, OK…don’t freak out BUT this whale will get close. I can’t move the boat, we need to stay where we are and let this whale do its thing. The whale was under the water on the left side of the boat 5 feet away. The bunker were nervous, in a boil and jumping like crazy! I was expecting a giant 45ft whale to blast out of the water doing a lunge feeding right then and there but it didn’t happen? I laughed and said, this whale is directly under the boat he should come up on the right! AND BOOM! The bunker boiled up and out trying to get away from the whale's mouth. The 45ft whale lunges out of the water, mouth wide open throwing bunker and water everywhere! Wow that was close, so close I couldn’t get the shot! The whale moved away and did another lunge feeding 15 ft. from the boat, this one I got the shot of.
We followed the whale as it sporadically did some awesome lunge feedings for us. The whale slowed down, and Patti and Judy wanted to see some dolphins, so we left and looked for dolphins.
We went onto the beach and met up with about 30 Inshore Bottlenose Dolphins, they were great to see but they were not really interested in us, and they moved away quickly. I did hear on the radio that there was a breaching whale in the area so we left the dolphins to find that breaching whale.
Not even minutes away from the dolphins on the beach we spot a whale in transit. This is not the breaching whale but another humpback, yeah we have lots of Humpbacks around.
The whale we just met up with kept fluking and showing us its tail. I got a few good shots and looked at the photos, I didn’t know this whale. Now, this is good, I have a whale I am not familiar with right in front of me and it's showing its fluke. We followed the humpback respectfully, it was in motion and not feeding. In following the whale, it brought us right to the inlet, but I didn’t not get a perfect fluke shot. Still following the whale, it dove and shown us its full fluke and I grabbed a photo. I looked at the fluke on the camera and it’s a good one, and now we can leave this whale and go in. This fluke will go into the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog as #NYC0069, the newest addition.
As I turn to say let’s go, I see we have many dolphins on the beach right in front of us and ask, do you guys want to go see them? They said yes, and we met up with the dolphins!
This was one of the most awesome interaction of Inshore Bottlenose Dolphins I have personally ever had!! In the pod were very playful calves, juvenile and adults. They were not skittish at all and were interested in the boat and came in close. There was jumping and roughhousing, and I shot one of my favorite dolphin photos to date. They stayed right next to us having a great time, playing for a good 10 minutes. It was time to go, we said our goodbyes and left the area to go back home.
Today was a very successful whale watch! 100+ Dolphins and 3 Humpbacks seen. The first Humpback was NYC0040, the second was a newly numbered whale NYC0069, the third whale we just saw its blows.
Saturday, October 14th going out on the Humpback Whale and Dolphin Adventure on the American Princess. The ocean was 3-6ft, very light winds with cloudy, dark conditions and some fog at the start. As the day went on it lightened up towards the end. We had a nice crowd on the AP, along with Artie Kopelman, the director of CRESLI. I always learn something new about humpbacks when Artie K's around so he is always a welcome sight. Last time I saw Artie it was on his incredible "CRESLI Great South Channel trip". I was thinking to myself this trip better be a good one!
The run started off fast with 6-8 Inshore Bottlenose Dolphins as soon as we got into the Atlantic Ocean. Looked to be a few adults with calves. They were very close to the boat moving slowly, we stayed with them for 10 minutes or so and moved on looking for whales. In transit to find whales there were a few more Dolphins here and there but again were looking for the humpbacks, we need to see humpbacks!
Half an hour later we came upon our first humpback that just did a lunge feeding way off. We got closer, I scream “10 O’CLOCK” as the humpback blasted out of the water with a backwards breach and then another. WOW the sound of the back of the whale slapping on the water was so loud and the splash was gigantic. I turned to Artie Kopelman and said laughingly wow that was shockingly loud, that’s gotta hurt! He laughed and said we will never know!
The whale settled down and went into mellow mode with blows and dives so we focused on finding other whales and moved on.
On a whale watching boat the direction of where the whale is spotted gets called out as a time, like the numbers on a clock. Think about the boat being a clock, the bow is always 12 o'clock, Starboard side is 3 o'clock, Stern is 6 o'clock, Port is 9 o'clock and any time or location in-between can be called. When a time is called out "HUMPBACK 6 O'CLOCK," the whale is at the back of the boat. It ain't perfect, and it gets confusing at times, but it works!
Off in the distance we saw another whale breach at 10 o’clock! (that’s #2), Seconds after that someone screams "3 O'CLOCK, A HUMPBACK!" (that’s #3), seconds after that "6 O'CLOCK, ANOTHER HUMPBACK" (that’s #4). We were surrounded by humpbacks, literally! Are you kidding me, four freaking Humpbacks!
Captains Tom and Frank chose to stay with the humpback that was closest. We followed it for a while and we can still see the other whales that we left behind, some are breaching, others are lunge feeding. It's real hard to keep up with all these whales around the boat- yes, it’s a good problem to have.
The whale we respectfully started to follow met up with one of the other humpbacks we were watching earlier. The two were getting closer, they met up, were side by side for like a minute and then both went in totally different directions. One humpback went west, the other humpback we followed went east.
The area the whale was traveling to had a large amount of bunker in closely scattered bait balls, snapping away on the surface of the water. We all knew this whale was going to take advantage of the bait balls.
He drove through, feeding on a few bait balls of bunker under the water, the bunker reacted by scattering up and out creating what's called a "boil." The humpback, still not taking a breath after the last two underwater feedings, finished off with a very good lunge feed. While that lunge feeding was ending I looked to my right and screamed “2 O’CLOCK” (that's #5)...YES, we have a fifth whale!
Throughout the day there were many dolphins in and around the whales. Most of the time they were interacting with the whales, which is very cool to see.
It was time to go and we were a good 45 minutes away from Riis Landing. I know we are going to meet up with the one whale that went west. 20 minutes into the ride back and we see the humpback moving west, get a shot, look at it, and its NYC0061, aka “New Jersey.” I know this because unfortunately NJ was hit by a boat about a few weeks ago and the markings of that collision are on its back.
]]>Good day out on the American Princess with Gotham Whale on 10-08-2017. SW winds 15-20+ mph, seas 3 to 6ft, mostly cloudy and very light drizzle here and there. What is great about where the American Princess goes out of (lower NY harbor and the entrance to the NY Bight) there is almost always a place to hide from the waves to get a Whale Watch in!
The AP had a good crowd for the day along with a large BBC camera crew. BBC are in town for a few weeks doing a big budget documentary/show on Humpback Whales of NYC due out in 2018. They were on the AP getting some shots of the NYC whale watching outfit, their passengers and crew. I was going to pass on today’s whale watch but due to certain circumstances I had to represent GW to the BBC. Not a problem, I love speaking with cameramen and photographers, it’s always easy conversation. This was surprising, they said what started them on this project and journey to shoot this show on NYC Humpbacks were my humpback whale images. One image that stood out, the Humpback Whale known as “Jerry” doing a spy hop in front of the Empire State Building. Wow, that’s a pretty cool thing to hear!
We came upon a large pod of inshore bottlenose dolphins that were especially lively and rowdy, they were going nuts! They were 300 feet or so from the boat and they were closing in on us, which is not the norm. The ocean conditions were perfect for watching dolphins riding ocean swells, on occasion there were 6ft rollers. If there was a day to witness and photograph this happening, today is the day!
Immediately into the meeting a lone large dolphin quickly swam right up to the bow of the boat and swam sideways, gave us a look and sped away. The back was dark grey, the side was colored light grey and the belly is white. I immediately screamed “OH MAN! NO WAY, FREAKING COMMON DOLPHIN!” The last we saw Common Dolphin were on 2014-10-09 almost three years to the day! Here are the photos from a few encounters from that time.
WOW this is great news, the Common Dolphin are so much fun to see, they always put on a great show and love to be around the whale watching boat! Today the commons were mixed in with the Bottlenose and they were riding the breaking waves in the channel.
As we were watching them do their thing, a humpback met up with us, a very mellow humpback. There was bait in the water so we thought we might get some lunge feedings for BBC’s show, but it didn’t happen. A few blows and a slow dive give away what whale it was with a short fluke shot, #NYC0058. A humpback that’s been in the area for like 3 weeks now.
Time was up on the Whale and dolphin watch so we left #NYC0058, the common and bottlenose dolphins, and another successful whale and dolphin watch in the shadows of NYC skyline. I can't say this enough: if you haven't been aboard the only NYC Whale watching boat, called the American Princess you need to book a trip quickly here >>> American Princess
Capt. Tom was at the helm of the American Princess. For Gotham Whale it was Merryl Kafka, Director of Education and onboard Naturalist on the microphone. Yours truly as spotter, photographer and Curator of the Humpback Whale Catalogue along with volunteer Celia Ackerman.
Perfect sea conditions out on the Western NY Bight, even with the 3ft-5ft, long duration, waning ocean swell from Hurricane Maria.
We charged out of Breezy Jetty and quickly met up with 80-100 Dolphins, they were everywhere you looked. At times the dolphins were feet from the boat, the closest I have seen all year. The Dolphins were spread out in every direction from 10 feet to 300+ feet away. As with days in the past there was a mix of dolphins ranging from baby dolphins (calves) to sub adults to mature dolphins. They were playful and "may-have-been-feeding,” but I can’t confirm.
As we were watching the dolphins a big blow gave away that there was a humpback in the mix.
Before I go any further, you need to know that not all humpback encounters are filled with unbelievable happenings like breaches, lunge feedings, tail throws, pectoral slaps, chin slaps, tail slaps and amazing stuff like that! Sometimes the whale just ate, and it might be sleeping, it might be in a bad mood or having a bad day. I don’t know, I’m not a humpback but they can’t always be on. This is what makes every humpback encounter different- it could be epic or a nonevent. BUT the bottom line, NYC has humpbacks and they are within sight of the NYC skyline. Seeing a humpback in NYC its always special But, I…digress.
This Humpback we just met up with was so erratic in its travels…it’s here one minute, there the next. When you think it’s to the right, it’s on the left. If you think it’s in the front, it’s in the back and so on. It also stayed down a long time on dives, 10 minutes at a time but 15 minutes for one dive and that’s crazy long. Most humpbacks here in NYC are down for 2-5 minutes. Because of this humpback's behavior, it was clear (to me) without even seeing its fluke it was #NYC0060, AKA K-CUP. Why? Because K-CUP is the sketchiest humpback whale I have encountered in all the encounters I have had with humpbacks. Eventually, this humpback did show us its fluke, on its left side of its fluke was a “Capital K,” confirming that this humpback is indeed #NYC0060, AKA K-CUP!
We lost sight of K-CUP, which happens. NYC0060 went on its way and so did we.
Now the good news doesn’t stop there, while on the American Princess we ran into other members of Gotham Whale today that were on a private boat performing important acoustic research on Atlantic Menhaden in NYC.
For two weeks Gotham Whale is carrying out this study compiling data collected by members of Gotham Whale. I won’t get to deep into the details but it’s very interesting and you can read about it when the research paper is published. On this day, the boat (in pictures below) was filled with members of Gotham Whale’s advisory board. Advisors Edmund Gerstein, Professor of Marine Biology -Acoustic Scientist, Florida Atlantic University. John Huntington- Professor, Entertainment Technology at NY City College of Technology. Along with David Rosenthal – Fisheries Biologist, NOAA.
Oh, it doesn’t stop there! Today Paul Sieswerda, Founder and President of Gotham Whale missed both the American Princess and the research vessel to represent Gotham Whale in a meeting on sharing our data with a few “like” but bigger and well backed agencies. Valuable information we have been collecting here in the Western NY Bight since 2009 with Seals and consistently with Humpback Whales, Dolphins and Seals since 2011. Paul will bring everyone up to speed on that, when the time is right.
Again, today was a great day, for the many reasons stated.
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Cheers...
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Do not ruin your and your party's Whale Watching adventure by being Seasick! It can happen to anyone in any type of seas from flat to raging and it is preventable. People who are prone to motion sickness in cars, airplanes, or carnival rides may also be more susceptible to seasickness. However, the motion on different ships affects people differently. Just because you get seasick in a small boat does not mean you will have problems on a larger boat or ship.
Here is a list of "Doctor Recommended" name brand remedies that work! Almost all are not available on Whale Watching boats, so be prepared before your trip. Check your local drug store, health store if they don't have what you want, go online. Buy what you need weeks before your trip and be seasickness ready.
BONINE: It’s said this is the best OTC remedy.
DRAMAMINE: “stick with it if it works” but beware it really makes people drowsy.
SEABAND: Acupressure - They work and are reusable.
MOTIONEAZE: An herbal remedy AND from what I have read it is the only one that will help “AFTER” you have already become sea sick but it's a 50/50 shot.
GINGER: Ginger settles your stomach quickly! Gin-Gins candy, Ginger Beer, Ginger Ale, Crystalized Ginger, Ginger Tea or Ginger pills.
PEPPERMINT and LAVENDER: Same as Ginger.
HYOSCINE AKA SCOPOLAMINE – IT IS NOT OTC! It is doctor prescribed and serious stuff if all else fails. Patch or Tablets (Not cheap).
MUSIC – distraction, pop in your ear buds and crank the Grateful Dead or whatever music floats your boat.
You need the seasickness remedies working in your system well in advance of your trip, especially Bonine or Dramamine. Take the remedy the night before your trip, as soon as you wake up and then right as the boat pushes off.
TIPS:
If there is a question in your mind you may be hit with seasickness or the feeling is hitting you, grab a sickness bag (also known as a sick sack, airsick bag, airsickness bag, emesis bag, sick bag, barf bag, vomit bag or motion sickness bag) and keep it on you, just in case you cant get to the rail.
A good attitude – no joke. You can scare yourself into sea sickness, I've seen it happen. I have been told by many a captain, if you keep thinking about it, it’s going to happen.
Do not be hungover or hit it hard the night before, honestly if you wake up dizzy just stay home.
Do not eat a big meal or overdo it on the food.
(I was fishing on a 35ft fishing boat off Montauk. It was 6-10ft and nasty and we went out! This one idiot in the bunch that was on the boat was hungover, had a big breakfast before getting on the boat and was extremely worried about getting seasick that day. That idiot did get sick and that idiot was me! I had a few things going against me on the trip that day: 1. Hungover 2 Ate too much 3. Worried about getting seasick)
Do not stay in the cabin. Do not lay down. You need to fight the seasickness, stand up and anticipate the rolling, hold onto the rail and be your own stabilizer.
You need fresh sea air, an unobstructed view, and always look to the horizon. While you’re at it look for whales and dolphins- it will help take your mind off the sea sickness.
Stay off your computer and don't text or read a book. The rocking is different from a car or a train, it can get to you and if it does it's hard to bounce back.
Back of the boat moves less than the front.
PLEASE do yourself and everyone on the boat a favor! – DO NOT get sick on or inside the cabin and especially not in the bathroom! DO NOT GET SICK IN THE BATHROOM! You will make everyone around you, who’s teetering on seasickness, get sick. It's a chain reaction and it ain't pretty.
If you are in the cabin and you feel seasick you need to get up, get outside and get to the back of the boat, grab the rail and have at it.
There is no shame in getting seasick!
Please understand this fact – The Whale Watching boat is not going back or in early because anyone is seasick, no matter how much you beg or how seasick you are! You will need to deal with your seasickness demons on that boat until its back at the dock.
BTW Pictures never really show how intense the ocean is so if it looks nuts in photos chances are it was insane! In this picture of a Humpback Breaching I was 7 miles off and it was starting to get big 5-7ft+ and rough, you can somewhat see it in the photo. I followed the whale for a little while and gave myself two minutes more and I am going in, it was getting too rough for a 26ft boat. Seconds before I was turning the boat around, BOOM a big breach, I got the shot and I high tailed back to the inlet. No...I did not get seasick.
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YOU LIKE FISHING ON ANY LEVEL FROM THE BACK BAYS TO THE OPEN OCEAN?
YOU LIKE SEEING HUMPBACK WHALES AND DOLPHINS OFF THE SHORES OF NEW YORK??
YOU LIKE SEEING OSPREYS AND EAGLES RETURNING TO NEW YORK???
If you do, you are encouraged to provide input on the Draft Amendment either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden and NY’s public hearing is Tuesday, Sept 12th.
PUBLIC HEARING
The NY Public Hearing on Atlantic Menhaden Draft Amendment 3 is tomorrow.
September 12, 2017 6:00pm - 8:00pm.
NYSDEC Division of Marine Resources
205 N. Belle Mead Road, East Setauket, New York
CAN’T MAKE IT, SEND AN EMAIL!
Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on October 20, 2017 and should be forwarded to Megan Ware, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at [email protected] (Subject line: Draft Amd. 3).
Final action on the Amendment, as well as specification of the 2018 TAC, is scheduled to occur on November 14th at the BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, MD.
Draft Amendment 3 seeks to manage the menhaden resource in a way that balances menhaden's ecological role as a prey species with the needs of all user groups. To this end, the Draft Amendment considers the use of ecosystem reference points (ERPs) to manage the resource and changes to the allocation method. In addition, it presents a suite of management options for quota transfers, quota rollovers, incidental catch, the episodic events set aside program, and the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap.
The 2015 Benchmark Stock Assessment Report identified the development of ERPs as a high priority for Atlantic menhaden management. Menhaden serve an important role in the marine ecosystem as prey for a variety of species including larger fish (e.g. weakfish, striped bass), birds (e.g. bald eagles, osprey), and marine mammals (e.g. humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins). As a result, changes in the abundance of menhaden may impact the abundance and diversity of predator populations, particularly if the availability of other prey is limited. ERPs provide a method to assess the status of menhaden within the broad ecosystem context. Draft Amendment 3 provides a variety of reference point options, including the continued development of menhaden-specific ERPs as well as the application of precautionary guidelines for forage fish species.
Draft Amendment 3 also considers changes to the allocation method given concerns that the current approach may not strike an appropriate balance between gear types and jurisdictions. Specifically, under the current allocation method, increases in the total allowable catch (TAC) result in limited benefits to small-scale fisheries, and to several states. Furthermore, the current method may not provide a balance between the present needs of the fishery and future growth opportunities. Draft Amendment 3 considers a range of allocation alternatives, including a dispositional quota (bait vs. reduction), fleet-capacity quota (quota divided by gear type), jurisdictional quota, including a fixed minimum quota for each state, and an allocation method based on the TAC. In addition, the document considers five allocation timeframes including 2009-2011, 2012-2016, 1985-2016, 1985-1995, and a weighted approached which considers both historic and recent landings.
Final action on the Amendment, as well as specification of the 2018 TAC, is scheduled to occur on November 14th at the BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, MD.
For more information, please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at [email protected] or 703.842.0740.
ALL THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN NYC WATERS. IT WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE IF THE MENHADEN FISH AKA BUNKER WERE NOT HERE IN NUMBERS FOR THE HUMPBACK WHALES TO FEED ON!
The meeting started off slow, a few dolphins seen, then a few more and then many but very spread out over a large area in all directions. A few calves in the mix of the pod and all dolphins were chasing down food. It looks like they are playing but I’m sure it’s all part of catching their food or maybe a little bit of both - not a dolphin expert, will never be.
The coolest thing I have ever seen live involving bottlenose dolphins happened today AND I caught part of it in a 15-photo sequence (love the 1DX II). A dolphin kicked with its tail a Bluefish straight up, clear out of the water and into the air like 10-12 feet. The tail of the Dolphin was not seen in the photos because of the white water from the action. Oh-man I can’t believe I got that shot, very hard to get dolphins doing cool stuff because they are so unpredictable. Whales on the other hand are more predictable.
We ran around everywhere and just when most, if not all, gave up Capt Frank found the impossible – a pod of 30 Bottlenose Dolphins. I gotta say what the dolphins didn’t make up in numbers and time spent with them they made up in by way of a very nice dolphin show. They were active and very close at times to the AP.
As the captains always say, never give up hope until we are tied up at the dock!
Fun had by all today and Happy Birthday to Kristi, she got the Birthday gift she wanted…TO SEE DOLPHINS.
30 Bottlenose dolphins seen.
We meet up with K-CUP and it was logging and when I say this I mean totally on the surface, sleeping, out like a light, looking like, you guessed it…a log. I shut the boat off and turned up the music and watched K-CUP for some time.
K-CUP woke up and shook us. We stayed in the area looking at the bunker schools to see if any other whales would show and it was time to go.
Driving back, a few miles from where we were we ran back into K-CUP by catching sight of a chance blow. Bunker schools are ready for the taking and K-CUP is setting up for its lunge feedings. K-CUP is going at it and there is another whale on the inside feeding also and then another on the outside.
Now we have 3 whales!
The Humpback on the outside was moving in the direction of where K-CUP was logging so it’s on its own.
Now we have two whales very close to each other, one we know is K-CUP the other whale unknown.
Both whales pass within 100 feet from each other and go in different directions and we follow the unidentified humpback.
Here are a few of K-CUP:
Now we are watching the “new” whale at a distance and as time goes by I have many chances to view this whale.
Its dorsal looks floppy, bent to one side and familiar.
It starts surface feeding, I start seeing its patterns of how it feeds, it's more familiar now.
I see the Peduncle and Its Peduncle Ridge has its back bone sticking out way more than most Humpbacks I see or know.
Hmmm, I think I know this whale! I just need one tell tail sign and it's not its Fluke it's the right side of its peduncle, and am looking for prop scars! The humpback dives down and I see what I need to see, the right side of its peduncle does have healed propeller scars and now I 100% know its my favorite whale NYC0011-- a humpback that is also known as “Jerry” is back in NYC!
It was getting late, Jerry was done feeding and we were running out of light and went back in and on the way grabbed a few sunset shots but still over the top about Jerry being in town!
WOW…JERRY IS BACK IN NYC!!!!
Jerry, the most famous NYC whale that did a spy hop directly in line with the Empire State Building back in 2013 is here, alive and well, bigger and fatter than ever...in NYC Waters for a 4th confirmed year!
WELCOME BACK JERRY!
Fyi - I didn’t see Jerry last year in 2016 but have in 13,14,15 and now 17. We know he was in Montauk on Aug 6, 2017 as he was seen by Artie Kopelman on the CRESLI Viking Whale watch in Montauk. Jerry is the 2011 calf of SMOG in the GOM Humpback Whale Catalog. Jerry is known as NYC0011 in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog.
Jerry went out and we went in and we will see you tomorrow and hopefully up through late September!
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We just left a pod of Risso's Dolphins and Common Dolphins.
I was very surprised at the ocean conditions. It was like glass, a very small ground swell and a breath of a wind... in a nutshell - perfect sea conditions. When the ocean is like this you can see a disturbance on the surface miles away.
We were on the hunt for Humpback Whales and all around us were fish breaking the surface of the water, very quick hits, and BIG FISH!
Up in the air were two small single prop aircrafts, one near us and the other a ways away, they both were circling the area. In the distance and getting closer was a crazy looking boat, 30ft-35ft in length. It had a large tuna tower and a pulpit gang plank both extremely long and exaggerated. What was on the surface was getting closer to our vessel and so was the boat, the airplanes were off somewhere else.
Right by the boat was a very large disturbance, big splashes and I was camera ready and got a few shots.
The fish that were breaking the surface were Yellowfin Tuna, estimated to be 200-300lbs. There were a few breaches but didn’t get those, these Tuna are fast.
The crew and captain of the Viking grabbed their fishing gear and hit the back of the boat and were pulling in some Mackerel on every drop, the mackerel was the bait. They dropped a few tuna rigs and got one to bite but it got away.
It was incredible to see this all happen live a bonus to an awesome Humpback Whale trip with CRESLI.
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I was on the CRESLI trip, run by Artie Kopelman, to the Great South Channel on August 13th to the 15th.
We just left a pod of Risso's dolphins and we ran into this big pod of Common Dolphins.
All my encounters are basically the same with Common Dolphins...AWESOME!
The Dolphin pod spots the boat.
The whole pod quickly changes directions in unison and heads directly at the boat.
In minutes, there are common dolphin very close and all around the boat.
They are riding the bow pressure waves of the boat, playing, jumping, making very loud clicks and by the looks of it they are having a blast doing all this!
YES, every time it’s the same and it happened on the CRESLI Trip. It was a short but sweet visit with the Commons but what a great experience and the photos, because they are so close, always come out great.
Here are a few photos…
I woke up early, 4:45am before astronomical dawn and grabbed a cold cup of coffee from the pot that's been there from the night before. I readied my camera gear for a day of photographing what would be seen. I went to the bow of the boat with a cold cup of Joe and a few cameras and what I saw and smelt was awesome. A Flat, glassy ocean, the sun was not even up on the horizon, just a yellow sky no clouds. Splashes all around the boat and the smell of Humpback whale breath just hung in the air.
The splashes got closer, the few that were up on deck saw what was making those splashes, Dolphins. Not your regular everyday bottlenose dolphins but funky looking dolphins. I am shooting away and they are giving us a show, breaching all over, moms with their calves and they are coming close to the boat. I still have no idea what kind of dolphins these are. Someone literally screams, as loud as someone can at 530am, "RISSO’S!!!" Instantly, I am thinking “who is Rizzo, he or she better get their ass out of bed and get upside quick.” Then another person screams "RISSO’S, I can’t believe it, RISSO'S DOLPHINS, I always wanted to see them!" OK, I am with the program now, the "dolphins" are called "Rizzo’s Dolphins," got it. I have never seen them before, I never heard of them before, but apparently this is a big deal and I love it! Artie K gets on the horn and says this is the first time Risso’s Dolphins were seen on a CRESLI trip. NOW I get why people are freaking out and am very happy to be part of the madness.
These Risso's dolphins were big Dolphins 10-12ft but they looked like they have been in some epic battles! There were about 25-50 of them in the pod and they were beat up, markings and bite marks everywhere, some markings looked like Aboriginal Patterns. Some had deep open wounds and one must have gone after baited fishing gear and was hooked up and released because it had a leader coming from its mouth.
The sun broke the horizon and gave us who were up amazing lighting for a few shots and the encounter was over.
That’s my Risso's dolphin story, check out the photos.
Jumped in the boat with the cameras and charged out of ER to see “if” I can locate some whales, dolphins or bunker. I love days like these with no chop, flat waters. Yes, there is an ocean swell but it doesn’t get in the way of going fast when you see something, a chop does. Whale watching is very boring at times but when you find something it makes up for it.
I didn’t see bunker until miles out but I found them. With them, I saw what looked like a balloon on the surface 2 miles away, minutes later a splash and I knew it was Dolphins. I let them be, as most of the time I do, I am looking for Humpbacks.
An hour later and 5 miles further out I saw a very faint, weak blow, then a good sized splash followed by another good blow during that splash, I just spotted two Humpbacks. The Humpbacks were 3+ miles away in the other direction and I was already 14 miles from the inlet. I could have been there in 4-5 minutes but then, when I arrived in that area, I had to find them, watch them (photograph) and get back. I didn’t have that time.
I chose to turn around and head towards home and if I saw those dolphins from the beginning of the watch I would stop for a few photos. I did meet up with that pod and there were 15 or so dolphins with a few calves in the mix. They were feeding and playing but they didn’t want anything to do with the boat, as usual, and kept their distance. All the better, I had to go anyway.
15 dolphins, 2 Humpbacks and a decent amount of Bunker on the surface during the 40+ mile run. I didn’t get the Humpback photos but I saw them and that’s the way it goes sometimes.
We charged out of Breezy, got to the ocean and the boat didn’t even rock, flat seas! The bunker were there but not in numbers and not on the surface. We quickly came upon a Humpback Whale and it quickly went into lungefeeding mode. What’s weird is that I didn’t see one bunker fly out of its mouth or around the whale once? Maybe they were almost at the surface and we didn’t see them. The whale did a bunch of lunge feedings today but one was very unique. Different whales do different things when they are lungefeeding. Some get out of the water in an all out attack on bunker, others don’t waste too much energy and take it slow. This whale did a lungefeeding, then stayed on the surface, rolled over and displayed its Ventral Pleats. Then rolled over to its right side and did a blow half in and half out of the water and that was loud!
Second day in a row a Humpback came 5 feet from the boat and gave a scare to a few that were right there.
The whale we met today is a new Humpback Whale to NYC and it gets number NYC0061 in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog held by Gotham Whale. Its nickname is New Jersey or Jersey for short. If you didn’t know, I am the curator, and quite honored to be the curator of that catalog. Its also a pleasure to work on the AP with GW. The Captains, crew and the GW team are awesome and I also meet some very interesting people that come on the WW’s, an overall great situation for me, I must say.
We went out of Breezy Point and Captain Frank locks in on a Humpback early in the run. I see the blow, we get closer and I start to see its behavior. It’s a sketchy Humpback! It's on the right side of the AP one minute and then it's on the left side of the AP another minute. I know this behavior in a humpback and its NYC0060, aka “K-CUP,” but have not seen its fluke yet.
There are very little, if any bunker anywhere from the bottom to the top in the water column, none on the surface. This humpback is looking for food and right now there is none where we (the whale and the AP) are. We stayed with the whale, giving it lots of room as she looked for food and we looked at her. A big Car Transport ship passed us by in the channel and separated us from the whale- it happens- and we met up on the other side. We were in the channel, the whale went deep, arched its back and then gave us a chance to see its fluke and I got a clear fluke shot. I look at the photo, zoom in and see a “Capital K” on its left fluke…BOOM it is NYC0060, aka “K-CUP”.
K-CUP has been here since 7-23 eating up bunker and taking in the sights. I call her an equal opportunity whale for whale watchers. It traverses back and forth on the sides of the AP giving both sides of the boat equal time on the whale watch. This whale came so close on one pass, all were watching on the right and the whale was on the left side 5 feet from the boat. It gives a big blow and that sound scared the hell out of people on the rail. It sprayed a disgusting smelling blow all over those whale watchers. Its what I call a Baptism or a Rite Of Passage, if you will. The wind carried a few blows to the boat and that same smell took many people by surprise. The way I can describe the smell is, imagine crushing up 10 bunker fish, put that it in bucket with some water, cover it and let it sit. Come back a day later open the bucket and stick your head in the bucket…that’s the smell and it's smelly!
Today, no breaches, lungefeedings or anything over the top but we did see a humpback in NYC and one we know and this is spectacular in itself.
I jumped in the SOF with the cameras and charged out to see “if” I can locate some NYC whales. Let me tell you, it ain't easy spotting whales. Even when you go out almost on a daily basis and know where they are, sometimes you don't find them.
The Bunker were setting up on the surface in numbers, Sea Birds including Ospreys were working the bait balls. I saw some big splashes in the bunker schools thinking it was Bass or Blues but did see them. I did see a Thresher shark's tail knock a few bunker out of the water. Later that night I heard from a reliable source that there were Makos working on what was under the bunker but I didn't see them.
It was three hours into the run, I see a few big splashes and thought it was a boat wake from a tanker. Something in that area catches my eye like a very faint blow but not sure. I focus on the area and like 4 minutes later I see a blow that went straight up, very thin and very high. WOW, that’s a really big blow! That’s either the biggest humpback whale I have ever seen...ever or that ain't a humpback and I might need a bigger boat!
I know I am on a whale, but it's under for a very long time and it was quite a distance away from the boat the last time I saw its blow. I see near the boat, under, down into the clear water, I see this giant light grey body of whale. It's close, moving fast, and it's coming up for a breath. I see the giant blow again and-it's-a…IT IS A FINBACK or Fin whale! OK. I didn’t see that coming! I am on my 26ft boat watching the second-largest animal after the blue whale feeding in NYC waters. This is one "big" whale compared to a humpback. I have see many Fins before out on the CRESLI Trip with Artie K, but I have only seen fins here in NYC 4 times over the years. Here are some facts on the Fin Whale
The Fin didn’t do much on the surface. Fin whales are not known for acrobatics like the humpbacks are but it's just incredible that there's a Finback Whale off NYC!
The Fin whale stayed around for an hour or so feeding on bunker, got its fill and he was heading out and I went in.
Nice day to be out on a boat!
(All photos taken by me Artie Raslich. Photo usage, contact [email protected])
Great day to be out on the water. Temp low 80’s, Water temp 74, waves small and the winds were light.
We charge out of Breezy and real quick, after passing the jetty, we met up with a small pod of dolphins and they weren’t interested in us and gave us the slip, so we moved along looking for whales.
The Bunker were everywhere on the surface, this is first time since last fall the bunker were in big numbers like this! The sounder was recording a solid mass of bunker 50ft deep in 65 feet of water and they were packed together tight on the surface. When the bunker are in these tight schools pressed up to the surface it looks and sounds like rain falling on the water. It is crazy but you can actually smell the fish before even seeing them. All this is awesome news because these large bunker schools are the dinner bell for Humpback Whales to come and feed.
Traversing the Bight, looking down in the water, Cownose Rays were flying by in the ocean. There were many, and they ranged in size from napkin size to 3ft wide. Some were finning and sunning others would dive down and move away from the boat, always a cool sight to see.
Moving along looking for whales we saw a splash, then a blow and we have a Humpback Whale. This whale looks like it was coming in from the deep and just started to feed on the thick schools of Bunker aka Menhaden. It did a few lungefeedings, gobbling up as much bunker it can, one gulp at a time. The whale took a break from feeding and then started breaching in succession One-Two-Three and then a Fourth! This whale really likes to get some air, it launched itself almost all the way out of the water with the last breach being the highest. The breaches were about 150 feet away and the splash and white water were gigantic with that sound of a big whale hitting the water- it's loud.
The whale came to the surface, took a breath, and then started pectoral fin slapping. I like that, it’s a different look and you get to see their eye and sometimes the whale is looking at you. The whale was heading towards the boat, must have sensed it was getting close, stopped the slapping and dove under.
Between it all this whale was all over the map, one minute the whale was on the left, then in the front, back to the right, now to the back. There was a little lull, the whale was last seen off the port bow side and without any notice a full on backwards breach paralleled with the boat on the starboard bow side 30 feet from the boat. WOW…THAT was scary close, extremely close, so close that I could not get the shot with my 300MM. Passengers on the front of the boat got splashed and I thought I was going to get wet also. The whale went back to Lunge feeding a few more times and then it was time to go. WOW what a freaking day!
Looking at the fluke shots of this Humpback, it is a “new whale” to the NYC area! I gave it a number, it is now documented as #NYC0059 in the Gotham Whale “NYC Humpback Whale Catalog”. WHALE HELLOOO Nice to meet you NYC0059, I will see you around!
We headed out of Breezy and went south. Very early into the trip I spotted way off in the distance what I thought was balloons floating on the water. I kept looking in that area and something was catching my eye but could not pin it down as to what it was. I normally would never tell the captains of the AP about something like this unless I am sure I “see” a Whale or a Dolphin. You feel like a fool when you say you saw something and they turn the 95ft boat and look for something that’s not there, wasting time and fuel…not cool! BUT, I gotta feeling and told Captain Tom. He turned the boat, we drove to the area and there were a decent size pod of Bottlenose Dolphins.
The Dolphins were everywhere and in the pod were the smallest Dolphin babies or Calves I have ever seen! I mean, these Dolphins must have been born like in the past week.
The Bottlenose Dolphins we are meeting up with this year are by far the friendliest and most inquisitive. This pod today didn’t let us down on the excitement. They were right up on the boat at times, playing, feeding and did a few jumps which I didn’t catch but its OK, I at least saw the action.
A great day on the American Princess with Gotham Whale! 100+ Dolphins on the day, a Cow Nose Ray, Tons of Sea Birds and a female Blue Claw crab (HEY! We saw the crab, it needed to be noted).
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Most people are prepared for these outdoor adventures, have all the gear to keep them dry and are happy to be out in the elements…sounds crazy, but its true! The great news for this day is the start was rainy but it ended in bright sunshine, big blue sky, light winds, a calm sea, beautiful Caribbean green waters, gorgeous views of the city skyline AND 75-100 Bottlenose Dolphin!
I guess the Bottlenose Dolphins this time of year are very playful and unafraid of the boats. In years past I usually don’t even shoot Dolphins or if I did it's very few images. This year it seems the Dolphins are very entertaining, acrobatic and interested in being around the American Princess. So it's been a good year so far watching Dolphins here in the Bight, better than I could have ever thought.
We met up with the dolphins half way through the trip. In the pods were juvenile and adult bottlenose dolphins but I didn’t see the very small calves like in days past. They were in very tight groups feeding on Menhaden and playing like crazy. I captured a few photos that I usually do not capture. A bunker being batted out of the water by a dolphins tail. A dolphin throwing its whole body out of the water sideways. That was cool!
The dolphins were in every direction you looked, near and far from the AP. The backdrop of NYC and ships with dolphins playing in the foreground can't get any better!
What a day out in the NY Bight on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. No whales today but the passengers did get what they came for, a very good day on the water!
On the AP with GW on July 2nd out looking for dolphins and whales. The beaches were packed and the surf was up. Perfect conditions for paddle boarding, surfing, body surfing or just getting wet. We met up with a dolphin pod in the surf line off Rockaway Beach and I took some photos of the paddle boarders and dolphins together.
While taking photos a very large fish (I thought it was an Atlantic Sturgeon and so did others) comes out of the surf line away from the Dolphins, Paddle Boarders and Surfers towards the boat. I did scream shark so people on the right side of the boat would look. They did look and saw the same thing I saw and captured in photos but still had no idea what type of fish or shark it was.
The photos went under review from experts and citizen scientists almost all point to this large fish of 6ft+ to be a Blue Shark.
OK a large Blue Shark was just feet away from the paddle boarders and Dolphins, it swam away from them, came to the AP and then went under the boat and disappeared.
SOOOOoooo next time you're at the beach this summer and you flip out because Seaweed brushed your leg, it might not be Seaweed!
These photos were taken within the same time of 2:10pm, in order that they were taken.
Just a perfect day, we charge out of Breezy and head east! Running along the ocean looking for whales and dolphins the beaches are packed with crowds of sun bathers, swimmers, paddle boards and surfers. The first thing we come upon is the 44 foot Hunter sailboat with the Coors Light sail. As an old beer guy who used to sell Coors Light I love the sight and a good marketing move on Coors’s part!
Quickly we come up on a nice Pod of Dolphins and they were in play mode. I have seen video of dolphins playing in breaking waves on the beach and saw it live for the first time on this day. It happened once and quickly, I was not camera ready but I saw it with my own eyes so I got that going for me. The dolphins went to meet a few of the Paddle boarders and interacted with them a little bit. The Dolphins were all over the surf zone and the water was so clear you can see them a good 10 feet down in the water.
As I was watching the dolphins a VERY large grey fish came swimming from the breaking surf where the Dolphins were to the boat. I pointed out the fish and screamed "Shark" jokingly but I did think it was a thresher. Most passengers on the port side of the boat did see the large fish. As it swam closer to us, unafraid, I thought, that’s not a shark??? That’s an Atlantic Sturgeon!!! I went to a few people who would know and they confirm that it is an Atlantic Sturgeon.
WOW an Atlantic Sturgeon, an endangered species here in NY. Atlantic sturgeon is among the oldest fish species living on earth dating back at least 70 million years and one just swam up to and under the AP! Read up here > Atlantic Sturgeon
***UNDER FURTHER REVIEW THE FISH THOUGHT TO BE AN "ATLANTIC STURGEON WAS A "BLUE SHARK"
We left that action and went south to see if we could find some whales. Not camera ready (again) on the Port side of the boat saw a freaking giant “Doormat Fluke” It had to be 3 ft +. The Fluke come up to the surface an sucked in a large bunker like it was nothing, didn’t even bite it! Wow what a day…Dolphins, Atlantic Sturgeon and a giant fluke!
We went out by the entrance of Ambrose and the bunker were out there but not in numbers like before the storms. The rain has killed the whale watching and fishing in the past week and this is a good sign…The Bunker are coming back and that means the whales will follow.
We met up with another pod of Dolphins out there south of Ambrose, hung for a bit observing them and it was time to go.
A great day out on the ocean with the American Princess and Gotham Whale!!!
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The weather forecast didn't look good on paper and from the boat (at times). Those crazy storms that passed by the area were seen from the AP but it did not reach or affect the AP. The clouds and fog that were threatening was an impressive sight to see in itself.
The sun, in the end, popped out as we met up with the same amazing pod of Dolphins that we saw on Friday.
I like this dolphin pod; they are lots of fun to see. They came very close to the boat and this pod has many calves so we get to see all those little babies up close and personal. I don’t care who you are, little baby dolphins are cute!
They did a few jumps and tail slaps and were playing around. Dolphins love waves, there were a few boat wakes passing through and the pod had their fun with them. We stayed with them until it was time to go and said goodbye to that small but spunky pod.
The storms did look cool and the clouds and fog were the star of the show until the Dolphins arrived. here are a few shots that stood out on the day.
I love this shot! You can see the fog laying on the roadway of the Verrazano Bridge deck with One World Trade in the background.
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Whales – NONE. Dolphins - NONE
PIX11 News came out on the American Princess to see how a whale watch goes down in the waters of NYC. Ayana was the reporter and John the Cameraman. I never met Ayana but I have met John a few times at different events over the years through Keith Lane a NYC/LI Media Cameraman legend that is no longer with us. Any time I was a Stills Photographer at an event and Keith was there as a Cameraman he would introduce me to other Cameraman. Introduce me to people who Keith thought highly of and John was one of them. A great day working with this crew, they made it a fun event. Here is the VIDEO OF THE DAY
It was a straight run south off of Breezy Point. NOAA was calling for some serious wind with rain in the afternoon with 4ft-6ft+ waves. We never were hit with the rain, just the wind for a short time. The seas were 1ft – 4ft not a solid 4-6+ they were predicting. When its windy in the open ocean the waves build fast. It did go from 1ft to 3ft quickly but that’s a non event for a 95 ft boat.
There were reports of humpbacks in Raritan bay and lower NY harbor. So why chance get beat up in 4-6+ (if it happens) in the ocean when we could be in somewhat sheltered waters and find a whale.
We tuned around and hung by the shore giving the passengers an incredible view of Sandy Hook and the Highlands. We got into the area where that crazy video was shot the previous day of the lungefeeding whale that jumped feet from a very small fishing boat kicking bunker into their boat off the tip of Sandy Hook by the Romer Shoals lighthouse. Video Here
There were bunker all over the area so we were in the right spot to see whale. We cruised around looking for any signs of a spout, big splash or disturbance that could be a humpback and there was nothing. I did see a very large Atlantic sturgeon jump out and land with a big splash, it was still cool to see but we are looking for whales and dolphins.
We ran around the bay and lower NY Harbor, saw nothing. Ran BACK OUT to the Atlantic and still nothing, it happens…rarely, but it happens, 10% of the times we do not see whales.
We got back to the dock, the Captain announced they were giving coupon discounts to the passengers for usage on another voyage.
PIX 11 asked for some photos, I obliged and here is what I sent for them to use.
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It is 100% confirmed that a Juvenile Humpback Whale known as #NYC0044 (#44) in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog has died. #44 was found dead off of Chatham Mass.
http://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20170621/2-humpback-whales-die-off-chatham
This is copied from the “Cape Cod Times” due to the link may not work sometime in the future. (All photos on this blog are captured by me.)
Wednesday Jun 21, 2017 at 5:21 PM Jun 21, 2017 at 8:40 PM by Doug Fraser @dougfrasercct
CHATHAM — A team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare was on Monomoy on Wednesday investigating the death of two humpback whales. A young humpback was reported to have washed up Tuesday on the beach on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, said IFAW spokeswoman Melanie Mahoney. The team went out Wednesday hoping to visually evaluate the whale or conduct a necropsy depending on the condition of the body.
“While out examining the stranded humpback whale, our team received a report of another stranded dead whale on Monomoy,” Mahoney wrote in an email. “The team was able to hike out and assess the animal. It was found to be alive and in poor condition.” The second whale was euthanized and the team began an assessment of the 27-foot-long animal, according to Mahoney. “Test results and cause of death are still pending and unknown at this time,” she wrote. Spotter pilot Wayne Davis captured an image of a humpback whale in shallow water near a group of seals off Monomoy last week, according to a post on the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Facebook.
NYC - September 09th 2016. Gotham Whale was on the American Princess and met up with #44 off of Deal NJ. The pictures below are of that encounter.
#44 was going nuts lunge feeding and Breaching the whole time we were with it. Coincidentally, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) with NOAA happened to be out on a chartered fishing boat trying to tag Humpback whales for the first time in the NYC area. WCS asked us to inform them if we see any Humpbacks and the Captains of the AP obliged with the coordinates of the whale.
WCS quickly arrived at our location and stayed with us watching #44. WCS and NOAA determined that #44 was a juvenile humpback whale and wanted to tag adult humpbacks not juveniles so they passed on tagging #NYC0044. As we were with #44 we saw another Humpback whale that was larger. This was the size of whale WCS and NOAA were wanting to tag. The AP Captains extended the Whale and Dolphin Adventure to assist WCS and NOAA in the tagging of the humpback but even with the extended time, conditions were not perfect for tagging and the whale was not tagged, we had to go.
RIP #NYC0044 Your number has been retired, thanks for making our day with the spectacular lunge feedings and breaches.
Whales seen – None. Dolphins 30+ (Dolphins numbers are always an estimate)
We left out of Breezy in the rain and light fog. I like conditions like this and photographically have always had a great whale watching day in these conditions. All my gear is f2.8 and I threw an 85mm f1.2 and a 135mm f2.0 in the bag, because of this, the conditions will not be a factor for me today! That's if the Whales and Dolphins cooperate.
The swells were long duration at 8+ seconds so it was very mellow swell. Time to time a few big swells would show their face but the ocean today was very nice and manageable. I would rather be out in a 6ft swell deep ocean with 10 second intervals than a 3ft wind swell with a 5 second interval which is a choppy pounding sea.
We got out to where the Whales and Dolphins were and stood on watch, quickly we found a very small pod of Dolphins. We stayed with them watching their splashes and jumps, some very close to the boat. In the pod there were a few smaller calves and that’s always a crowd pleaser on a whale and dolphin watch. No whales as of yet!
I love this photo, the caption in my head when I saw this was " HEY MOM...HEY DAD...WAIT UP!"
Our time with these dolphins came to an end, by choice, and now we need to see whales! The Captain sent all hands to their lookout position to look for the Humpbacks. The Fog was getting thick now and when its like this all eyes are needed looking for whales because you can pass a whale and not see it in the fog.
We spent the next hour looking for whales, the fog was getting thicker and spotting whales in this soup is nearly impossible. It was 330pm-4pm and Capt Tom gets on the microphone and says “The fog is making finding whales impossible we are ending the whale watch early. We are issuing you a discount for your next trip”.
We headed back to Riis Landing a little early but the trip was a success, we saw Dolphins! The Captain Tom and Captain Frank (an the crew) of the American Princess pride themselves on finding Dolphins and Whales on every trip. 90% sighting rate and today counts because we did find Dolphins on a Whale and Dolphin adventure!
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Whales seen – TWO Humpback Whales, 50-100 Dolphins (Dolphins numbers are always an estimate)
A media crew from “CBS This Morning” was out on the American Princess Cruises “Whale and Dolphin Adventure” with Gotham Whale doing a news piece on NYC Whales.
We ran out of Breezy Point and headed to the spot where we saw the whales the day before. It was not long before I saw the first blow around 12:30pm. I never alert the Captain that I spotted a Humpback Whale until I see the whale twice. BOOM...I see the second blow 7-8 minutes later, now I 100% know we have a Humpback and a solid location to tell the captain. I rap on the window and tell Captain Tom “Humpback 9pm, 400 yards.” He acknowledges with a thumbs up and a smile...here we go, we are on a whale watch.
As we are approaching the Humpback it starts to lunge feed on the Atlantic Menhaden that’s out here in numbers. It’s the whales food of choice here in the NYC waters and is why it's here. The AP is now in whale watching mode at a respectable distance from the whale, moving very slow.
The Humpback performs a powerful surface behavior known as a Peduncle Throw, Tail Throw or a Tail Breach. This is where a humpback whale throws its peduncle sideways, with its tail out of the water landing with a huge splash of water. It's violent and I freaking love it!
Spending time with this whale I start to notice I have seen this dorsal before. Another lungefeeding happens. I look at the photos just shot and YES… I 100% know this whale. It's an old friend to the NYC Humpback Whale catalog- its number is #NYC0042, AKA Patchy. Why Patchy? The whale has big white roundish markings that look like two white eye patches right by both eyes…it was named Patchy by the CBS Crew.
The Captain wanted to give NYC0042 a break and some space so we left that whale and went looking for the other Humpback Whale and 50-100 Dolphin in the area. We keep seeing the blows from the other whale but knew it was in mellow mode so we left it alone and met up with the Dolphins instead. The Dolphins always look like they are playing and gave us a good show.
We stayed with them for a bit and noticed that NYC0042 followed us and ended up with the dolphins. OK, now we have dolphins and whales together and it doesn’t get much better than that on a “Whale and Dolphin Adventure.” Man, dolphins swim fast and they moved out of the area quickly and left us with NYC0042.
These Humpbacks are here in NYC to feed on Atlantic Menhaden, but they move around. In 2016 I photographed this whale NYC0042 off of NYC in July and in November. NYC0042 was also seen and photographed out in Montauk by CRESLI’s Director Artie Kopelman in early august of 2016. SO this whale was in NYC went to Montauk and the returned to NYC and probably went down to the Silver Bank for the winter…Not a bad life!
Here is some good news with Patchy - I met up with and photographed Patchy in 2016 while out on my boat the SHIP OF FOOLS. In the 2016 photos I noticed that it had deep open rope cuts on its Peduncle and Tail and the cuts were infested with Sea Lice. The rope cuts are a clear indication that this whale had been entangled in fishing gear or a fishing pot. It was very lucky and shed the gear and lives today because of that! Here are two photos from 2016.
I got some great photos today, here are two photos showing both sides of the cuts and they are healed with no sea lice in the scar and that’s very good news for this Humpback.
These Humpbacks are here to feed on Atlantic Menhaden, but the Humpbacks move around. In 2016 I photographed this whale NYC0042 off of NYC in July and in November. NYC0042 was also seen and photographed out in Montauk by CRESLI’s Director Artie Kopelman in early august of 2016. SO this whale was in NYC went to Montauk and the returned to NYC and probably went down to the Silver Bank for the winter…Not a bad life!
Here are a few more shots of the day.
Great day had by all! It's awesome the CBS News Crew was out documenting and sharing with the world that Humpback Whales are in the waters of NYC! Believe me, I do this every day. You would be shocked at how many people stare blankly at me when I say “I photograph Humpback Whales off of NYC,” and its usually followed by their laughter. This news coverage helps with my daily fight.
In the time we had with NYC0042 we saw about 8 lunge feedings, 2 tail throws (one was NUTS!) and a semi tail slap. It's good to be a Humpback Whale Photographer here in NYC!!!!
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Here is a little snap shot of what this band is about. If you like or liked seeing the Grateful Dead live and have not seen this band, go to the calendar below and set a date to see them!
Half Step is a group of dedicated fans & students of the Grateful Dead, capturing the spirit, improvisation, sound & complexity of Grateful Dead music. Established in 2004 on Long Island, Half Step has been mastering their craft while winning over crowds of veteran Deadheads, newcomers and non-Dead fans alike.
Like the Grateful Dead themselves, the band is constantly pushing the envelope, growing together as musicians and performers accurately represent the superb body of work that the Grateful Dead have to offer.
Half Step has the rare privilege to be in the position to share their collective impression with you from small bars to big venues and festivals. Their attention to detail and staying true to the traditional show format by playing sets of tunes in a sequence that could likely have been performed by the Dead themselves years ago. The members of Half Step also use similar instruments, amplifiers and effects to “Furthur” authenticate the Grateful Dead sound. Like the Grateful Dead themselves, the band is constantly pushing the envelope, growing together as musicians and performers accurately represent the superb body of work that the Grateful Dead have to offer.
Check the calendar out to see the next show. https://halfstepgd.com/calendar
Like the bands facebook page. HALF STEP - Grateful Dead Tribute​
A big thank you to Rich Rivkin presents for bringing this Woodstock Event to Old Bethpage Village Restoration! http://limusicfestivals.com/
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Whales seen – TWO Humpback Whales
It was a productive whale watch on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. The AP has been packed lately and was sold out but everyone had a seat and when we saw whales a spot at the rail.
No two whale watches are the same, on the rare occasion you see nothing but 90% of the time we do see whales. Even when you see whales their activity level can range from lethargic to very active and anywhere in between.
Today we charged out of Breezy on a whale watching quest that took us down off Jersey around the town of Deal. We got a tip there was a feeding whale in that area and went down to meet her. As soon as we got to that area, up towards the beach we see a blow, and we have a Humpback Whale at 2:19pm. After a few blows I can tell this whale just finished feeding and was taking a break, it was not logging but definitely resting. This whale was all over the map, it was close one minute, the next it was way down the beach. It was very hard to keep tabs on because after a blow it stayed down for longer than we normally see. We are used to 2-5minute dives, this whale was at 5-10+ minute dives.
After spending time photographing this humpback it is starting to look familiar. This Humpback has been through some hard times with entanglements. From these entanglements the whale has a few standout white scars and markings that make identifying this whale easy. I have no fluke for this whale but know I can ID this whale without a fluke [maybe we will get one at a later time] from these scars and markings on the Left Dorsal, Right Dorsals and on the Peduncle. Because of this, I can ID this whale and it gets a number in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog as “NYC0057.”
We stayed with NYC0057 for an hour and started back to see if we encountered another whale. We were off the Highlands and we see Humpback Whale #2. We are not with the whale a minute and it starts to lungefeed and the passengers on the AP go nuts, this is what they came for. The humpback did a few more lungefeedings and as much as we hate to leave an active whale, the AP has a schedule and dock full of people ready for their Ferry ride to Manhattan and we have to go.
Whales seen – THREE Humpback Whales
It was nice to have a group of photographers out on the American Princess (AP) with Gotham Whale (GW) from the “Long Island Sun Chasers” Facebook group. I love seeing all the different gear and techniques on how to capture action shots involving Humpback Whales. I know most of the members of this group's photographic works from seeing them on the “Long Island Sun Chasers” page. Great to see them live and in person with cameras ready for some Humpback Whale action.
It was a nice day out on the water despite the lack of Sun but the Ocean was near flat, winds light and the company was good. We changed up the direction of travel, headed South out of Breezy and went off of North Jersey. The Captains of the AP know where to go and how to go to find Humpbacks. It's not easy, even when you "know" they are there! You can even be on a Humpback, watch it dive down and 20 minutes later you're scratching your head wondering where it went. Good news is the Bunker fish that the humpbacks feed on are in the area and on the surface just waiting for a humpback to come by and eat them.
I was in the back of the boat speaking with Paul L Sieswerda the Naturalist on board (a rockstar in his industry and director of GW) and Trish Minogue Collins, a member of the LISC. I was in conversation (ALWAYS looking at the water) and saw an apparition way off in the distance. There was no blow but I thought I caught sight of a partial fluke going down on a dive. I told Paul and Trish, we might have a Humpback, don’t broadcast; we need to confirm. I informed the captains of what I saw and where. They turned the boat and 10 minutes later "THAR SHE BLOWS" and we were on our first Humpback Whale. Time of first Humpback Whale sighting approximately 3:15pm.
It was a slow start with this Humpback. It was a nice size and when it dove down it stayed down a little longer than we normally see. That longer down time on a dive gives the whale time to get some distance between us and the whale and we can lose sight of this one quickly, but luckily didn’t. This Humpback also stayed just under the water but out of sight. You could follow where it was going by the footprints it was leaving on the surface.
The Humpback was traveling North back towards where we came from, where we know the bunker was in schools on the surface. The whale took a breath and headed towards a dark spot on the ocean. The dark spot kind of looks like an area of water being rained on hard and has a totally different texture than the surrounding water. The Bunker school was starting to get nervous and their splashes and slapping at the surface grew more frequent, and for good reason. The whale was in and under that Bunker school and seconds later an explosion of white water was splashing followed by that Humpback Whale blasting out of the ocean, mouth wide open with Bunker fish flying everywhere. AND THIS IS WHAT WE CAME FOR!!!!
We stayed with this Humpback as it was lunge feeding tearing up those schools of Bunker with every bite it took.
This whale was somewhat unpredictable, first it was by the front of the boat, then 300 feet away, onto on the other side and then back to the boat and then up front. All the while it was lunge feeding, I lost count but think we had a total of 8-10 lunge feedings.
While this whale was munching on bunker snacks, off in the distance just North of us we spotted 2 other humpbacks but stayed with this one because of the feeding action.
It never gets old being out on a boat for a whale watch. This was a good day for the passengers and photographically a successful day.
Whales seen – THREE Humpback Whales.
It was a good whale watch on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. WOW…The ocean was so beautiful on this day it was crazy! It looked tropical, like the Caribbean Sea, light green and very clear! Passengers on this trip were very surprised that the waters off NYC can be this nice and clean. I have to admit, some days it even surprises me, this was one of those days.
We charged out of Breezy and went straight down the beach. There seems to be a pattern with these whales we are meeting up with lately. We either are passing by the whales and not seeing a blow, splash or any of the tell-tale humpback whale signs or these whales are coming in from the outside as we pass that area. I say this because we are meeting up with the humpbacks on the return to port portion of the whale watch. In the area we just sailed through and the Humpbacks are active and right up on the beach.
We met up with the first whale in about 20-25 feet of water, he/she was heading west at a steady pace. The whale was focused on moving and was doing nothing else but that. 20 minutes or so the captain gets on the PA and says we have another whale about a ½ mile off to the west. That’s the exact direction the first whale was heading. I looked to the west and saw whale #2 I thought it was going to start tail-slapping to say hello to whale #1 but that didn’t happen. Both whales are heading towards each other and they meet up. It was a very quick meeting they came about ten feet from each other and #1 went West and #2 went East. While the meeting was happening we see another whale about 300ft off the boat. #3 was coming in and was very mellow, it would stay on the surface or right below and would slowly glide I guess it was getting some sleep or logging. We stayed with #3 for a short time, I got a few more shots of the whale and it was time to go. As we are traveling back to port we could see the spouts from Whales #2 & #3 and they were all traveling away form each other. The #1 Whale was heading west, we caught up and passed him as we returned to port on another successful Whale Watching trip on the American Princess with Gotham Whale
There was no feeding or any special maneuvers like a breach or tail-slap but any day we see humpbacks is a successful whale watching trip out. The boat was packed, a good crowd and they got what they came for: HUMPBACK WHALES!!!
Great crowd on the American Princess with Gotham Whale, all are excited and ready for an epic Whale Watch. Paul L Sieswerda (founder of GW) is the naturalist on board. Let me tell you, he gets the crowd going, it was like he was the warmup act for what will turn out to be an unprecedented Whale Watch.
I am at my usual spot on the AP, Port side, upper deck in the front of the boat. It’s a spotter's position and has a bird's eye view of the ocean and bow of the boat, including all the passengers on the bow. It’s a great spot, when I see something I can scream down and they can hear me and I can hear them.
This day the passengers on the AP witnessed something that was very special. What’s to happen was never witnessed here in NYC waters by Gotham Whale and the Captains Frank and Tom on the American Princess. This may happen every day, all day for all we know, but again this is our first time seeing this unfold, live in person!
We met up with what I thought was two Humpback Whales swimming side by side. Watching the whales I saw what I thought was three blows seconds apart? It was weird. As time goes by I did notice that the blows were starting to synchronize. I saw one blow and a second later, two blows almost at the same time but very close together almost on top of each other??? What, is there three whales right there or is the other whale doing something weird with its blow? It turns out, there are three humpback whales swimming side by side. I was just blown away by this!
They were not doing anything spectacular BUT, three whales swimming side by side in itself is spectacular! I sat back and watched the three whales be whales for a while.
I'm a lookout so I always need to be looking for whales, just because we are on three whales doesn't mean there are not more! I see off in the distance, a mile or so away a ghost of a blow. I focus on the area and another faint white puff. I always wait for three blows before I alert the Captain’s and BOOM…A BREACH! I SCREAM "WE GOT A FOURTH WHALE AND IT JUST BREACHED!" All on the boat looked off in the distance and there was the fourth Humpback and it was a tail slapping machine!!! We left the three whales to met up with the fourth slap-happy whale.
From my spot, I say down to the front of the boat. “That humpback whale is communicating with the other three Humpbacks. The Tail-slapping is said to be a short distance communication between humpbacks and that whale is saying to the other three humpbacks I-AM-HERE!” AND that tail-slapping whale will meet up with the other three Humpbacks!”
What does the fourth Tail Slapping whale do...it takes us right back to met up with the other three Humpbacks we just left.
WE NOW HAVE “F-O-U-R” HUMPBACKS SWIMMING SIDE-BY-SIDE FEET FROM EACH OTHER!! I don't know if any of the passengers are even getting what is happening here, to them its a whale watch. They are probably thinking to themselves why is that guy, up there with the camera, freaking out about? I'M FREAKING OUT BECAUSE THIS IS F#@KING HAPPENING!!
We stay for a little while with the four whales, a few pectoral slaps, a tail throw and we gotta go!
What an incredible experience for all who witnessed! AND YES this all happened on a NYC Whale Watching boat called the American Princess, in NYC waters and it happened right in front of the NYC Skyline, 16 miles, as the crow flies, from The Empire State Building which was in sight from start to finish!
The photos are no representation of the greatness we witnessed today. You can have the most boring whale watch ever and, photographically speaking, one lungefeeding photo can make it look like it was epic. THIS WAS THE OPPOSITE! The experience was epic, the photos…not so much!
Wave Heights - 1-3ft, Water Temp - 57, Air Temp 66, Wind Speed - Light variable then gusty out of the South. Whales seen - TWO Humpback Whales both not identified.
The AP pushed off at 1pm this day, the boat was full and all eyes on the water. We have been informed that there were whales off NYC and we ran down the beach to met them. Roughly 2 hours into the whale watch we met up with an unknown humpback whale. Very hard to spot, we probably passed on the way out. Some days the blows or splashes jump right out at you miles away. Other times the whales can be right next to the boat and they give no clue they are there! This Humpback looked to be a juvenile Humpback and was in-between lungefeeding, taking a break and swimming around. The Whales can't feed 24 hours a day, they need to take breaks, sleep and even play. We stuck with this whale giving it its space so as to not bother it in hopes maybe it will start to feed. That paid off, 20 minutes later the feeding started. This whale wasted no time and went from one bunker pod to another, zig-zagging across the bow a few times. Somewhat unpredictable in its movement and that’s the way I like it, you never know where it's coming up or where it is. Keeps people on their toes! Some lunges were shallow, others were very dramatic. The humpback did one side Fluke Throw that was quick but sent a message that was loud and clear, there is another whale out here but where? No more than 10 minutes, we see a second whale. It's said tail slapping or tail throws are a short distance way for whales to communicate with other whales. Don’t know how true this is but today...it worked to the side of true. Now we have two humpbacks for this whale watching trip. The second whale was not with us for very long. My guess with the second humpback, it just finished a big feeding and was taking a break. The two humpbacks came together, at distance, circling each other and one went west and the other (the first one) went North-east towards the beach back to lungefeeding. We took one last look at the lungefeeding Humpback Whale and time to get back to port. It was another successful whale watch on the American Princess with Gotham Whale.
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Boat's filled, it's noon and we charge out of Breezy looking for whales, dolphins or anything that we can find. We get to the area where we start to see Humpbacks and start looking for whales. Bunker fish are everywhere you look, in big numbers, and are on the surface snapping away. The Bunker fish, aka Atlantic Menhaden, are the forage fish the whales feed on while here in the waters off of LI, NYC and NNJ. Its the main reason the whales are here in the western NY Bight. These are perfect conditions to see whales lungefeeding and all we need now...are the whales!
Early in the whale watch adventure Captain Frank spots a Blow, then another. He alerts the cabin, passengers get to their spots and I get my cameras ready. All eyes on the water looking for this whale. Time goes by and no whale, did this whale give us the slip? Maybe...but the good news is we have plenty of time left in the trip. We are hopeful we will see this whale on the way back, so we press on.
Time goes by, all eyes on the water and no whales in sight and its 230pm. We have to start heading back in the direction we came from and scour the seas to see if we can meet up with the whale we lost sight of earlier.
BOOM…A Big blow dead ahead, Thar she blows!
Its 2:53pm and we meet up with the whale that we saw earlier and the whale is Lunge feeding. Everyone gets into a whale watching spot and the show begins. The first lungefeeding was great, bunker and white water flying everywhere ending with a giant splash. This was followed by a few more Lunge feedings, a Fluke shot and then a little lull. In that lull I have time to look at the fluke shot I got. The Fluke (and other distinguishable markings) identify the individual whale. No two flukes are the same and for this reason we can tell each individual whale. I look at the patterns of the fluke to see if I know the whale and I do not. This is great news...we have a new Humpback Whale in NYC waters! The next open number we have in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog is NYC0056 and that's the number I give this whale.
NYC0056 surfaced by the AP about 50 feet away, took a deep breath and dove under, setting up for another giant lunge feeding. This time the lungefeeding has the NYC Skyline as the backdrop, it's perfect and was the last lunge feeding we saw of NYC0056. It's time to go in, the whale watch is over! As usual the American Princess produced another fine whale watching adventure...until we meet again, NYC0056.
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We can't confirm that these two whales are Mother and Calf, but I and others do think it is. It's very hard to tell the difference of a Female and Male whale unless it breaches or shows its underside.
Today the American Princess with Gotham Whale encountered these two whales and they were very close together (like 10 feet) and stayed that close for the time we were with them. They both gave us a show of synchronized Flippering and Flipper Slapping (Pectoral slapping) for over an hour. They were near the shore, among the Menhaden AKA Bunker, mossbunker, and pogy (http://chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/fish-facts/menhaden) but no feeding was observed today.
Gotham Whale has not catalogued these whales yet and when they do I will update the albums with their new catalogue numbers. Some people on the boat nickname the whales for easy identification. The small Humpback Whale has a bright white Fluke with Black Killer Whale teeth marks or "bites" on its Flukes and a very serious hooked Dorsal - Nickname "Bight" For the "NY Bight waters" it swims in and the Bite on its Fluke. The big humpback always with "Bight" is nicknamed "Queens." Queens is the biggest borough of NYC, and this Humpback Whale is BIG, so that sounds good to me.
No Whales (we saw them but could not connect) - but I am ok with that.
Then the big boys came in, The Humpback Whales. We located a new whale to NYC that was out at Robert Moses on Sept 28. He did some surface feeding lunges and came up to the AP to see what the Dolphins were looking at. Off in the distance were two other Humpback whales in different directions of each other and the boat, all whales were not more than a mile apart.
I was on the American Princess with Gotham Whale and met up with these 2 Humpbacks late in the trip. They did not disappoint everyone on the American Princess in that time we had with them!
One was a very big Humpback (the blow was close to 15-17 feet) and the other was smaller and very playful. They fed very little and looked like they were interested in moving on but let’s hope they stay for a little while. Great job by Capt. Frank on the AP finding these whales - it ain’t easy!!! (Photos Artie Raslich)
2014 - This year, Whale NYC0012's fluke cut has healed and so did the big gash on his rounded projection. Only to be replaced by another cut, more like a scrape on that projection but not as bad. Aug 3, 2014 NYC0012 was observed off Montauk. Aug 15th NYC0012 was observed in NYC waters and has been here ever since.
NYC0012 is a big whale, the older the whale the bigger the rounded projection. It’s a cool thing to be able to observe and document this stuff. If you told me I would be taking pictures of whales from my own boat or a whale watching boat named the American Princess with Gotham Whale out of NYC (Riis/Breezy)- I would say YOU'RE CRAZY!
It was Jerry (the Whale) out off Rockaway Killing masses of Bunker with every lunge! The bait balls were so vast and thick that when you drove through them it sounded like rain. Threshers were going at them, you can see them swimming through a bait balls not by seeing the shark but by the fish that were jumping out of the shark’s way, the bunker was showing us the Threshers swimming patterns. Cool stuff!
This was that epic day where everything lined up. I invited out Michael Busch from Great South Bay Images - great day had by all! (I practice responsible whale watching under the guidelines of Whale SENSE)
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The whale was feeding on lots of Bait Balls of Bunker and around him was a small pod of Dolphins playing in the waves, but they came and went fast. #12 was very aggressive while feeding maybe because of the 4-foot chop? it displayed Vertical, Surface and Swimming lunges. The Whale knew I was there and I gave him much room (Whale SENSE) to do its thing. we were with #12 for about an hour and on his exit, did this unbelievable breach, eyes open (looking right at us) body almost all out the water. The best breach I have witnessed to date. Then it took a few big breaths, fluked us and went out way off-shore. Nice to see you #12, have a great day.
Last year NYC12 had a very big gash on his rounded projection near tip of lower jaw. That gash has healed well but it has another scrape or deep cut in a different spot this year.
I know #04 to be very mobile when feeding, he changes direction often doesn't lunge feed to much but seems to like to surface feed. This whale is everywhere, where ever you think #04 will surface next, it is never in that spot. Today whatever #4 did #15 did also. They broke apart after the big breaches and fed on their own for almost a half an hour. Again, great day had by all.
Aug 22, 2014
Lunging Humpback and a small Pod of Dolphins playing on the chop of the 2-4-foot waves off Rockaway Peninsula. We spotted the whale early, luckily it was feeding and just started to. Gotham Whale has seen this whale before this year and last, GW cataloged this Whale as NYC0012. This whale today did some surface, lunge feeding along with an amazing Breach. Around the boat off in the distance there were many blows from other whales and from time to time you can see them doing some lunge feeding also. Great day out on the American Princess with Gotham Whale! See it for yourself...
Whale NYC#12 was photographed by Artie Raslich off Rockaway Peninsula late Sept. 2013. August 3rd, 2014, it was photographed off Montauk by Artie Kopelman of CRESLI. Gotham Whale had not seen the whale NYC0012 in the NYC waters in 2014. Well guess who's back in town, good ole NYC #12 that's who! #12 left Montauk and was seen back in the shadows of the NYC skyline August 15th, 2014. Welcome back #12 and we will see you soon from the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale. P.S. Whales do POO photos 3-5.
Overall great day, 1 Humpback, 100+ Dolphin and a Pesky Thresher Shark…a successful day!