Artie Raslich Photography: Blog https://www.artieraslich.com/blog en-us (C) Artie Raslich Photography (Artie Raslich Photography) Fri, 06 Sep 2024 16:16:00 GMT Fri, 06 Sep 2024 16:16:00 GMT https://www.artieraslich.com/img/s/v-12/u505224301-o1007081913-50.jpg Artie Raslich Photography: Blog https://www.artieraslich.com/blog 120 117 A Long Island "End to End" whale watch with CRESLI and Gotham Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/9/a-long-island-end-to-end-whale-watch-with-cresli-and-gotham-whale I I did a Long Island “End-to-End” Whale Watching trip here on Long Island. Wednesday Sept 4th, I went to Montauk to do a CRESLI Whale Watch. The next day Thursday Sept 5th I went to Brooklyn on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. YES…an End-to-End Whale Watch, it is a thing! YES, Brooklyn is on LI, just as much as Montauk is on LI. 
Wednesday Sept 4th, I went out on the CRESLI Viking Fleet whale watch. The sea conditions – near perfect! NE winds around 5 kt, becoming E around 5 kt late. Seas around 1 ft. Wave Detail: SE 1 ft at 7 seconds and SE 1 ft at 10 seconds. A flat ocean which at times was like glass and 73 degrees air temp. It was a top ten day on LI!
The Viking pushed off, Artie Kopelman, CRESLI was on board as naturalist and Maestro, and he knocked it out of the park! Artie mentioned this was the best year for whale watching to date. With 134 different identifiable humpbacks. Montauk was on fire this year with whales, this day was no different. We headed out and came around the light house and Camp Hero, THE END of Long Island. We were on our first whale quickly; it was a Humpback, and it was a juvenile. We are not with the whale for a minute, and it does a spectacular breach 50ft from the boat. Wow, the sound of the impact was impressive, and the splash was gigantic. It only did one, then the whale went back to sub-surface feeding. We moved on from the solo whale that was off the beach and headed 12-14miles off of Montauk. That is where we came across hundreds of boats and in the mix of fishing boats were the whales. This is where the action was! It was an impressive sight to see, anywhere you looked there were whales. In the mix of whales were a few calves with their mothers, a few juvenile whales, and the big boys (which were probably females). These were not the small whales that I normally see. These were the big, fully grown adults and they were everywhere. We got synchronized swimming, diving, feeding and I guess playing. Because of the weather conditions the blows just hung in the air forever! No lunge feedings or any crazy acrobatics, but we did see three breaches this trip. One very close and two others far away. One whale took a nap (logging) by the boat. It just stayed at the surface 30-50 feet from the boat for a good 15-20 minutes. We headed in and saw a small pod of Dolphins in almost the same spot (GPS) we saw the breaching humpback on the way out. We stayed for a few shots and started the hour and a half ride into the dock. A very nice trip with 20 dolphins and 20-30 Humpbacks seen. 
A big thank you to CRESLI’s Artie Kopelman and his band of Volunteers along with the captain and crew of the Viking Starship for safe and amazing whale watch. Try to get out to Montauk and get on this whale watch before they shut down on Sept 18th. 

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. 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/9/a-long-island-end-to-end-whale-watch-with-cresli-and-gotham-whale Thu, 05 Sep 2024 04:15:00 GMT
4 whales and 500+ Dolphins, baby Cownose Rays, a small sea turtle https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/8/4-whales-and-500-dolphins-baby-cownose-rays-a-small-sea-turtle Somedays it all comes together, the weather conditions, the sea conditions, the Whales and dolphins give a show, a good show. This is what happened on Saturday, August 24th on the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin watch out of Sheepshead Bay, Peir 3, Eammon’s Ave, Brooklyn NY (across the street from Applebee's).

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/8/4-whales-and-500-dolphins-baby-cownose-rays-a-small-sea-turtle Sat, 24 Aug 2024 16:00:00 GMT
4 whales, many rays, a shark, and some turtles on the AP. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/8/4-whales-many-rays-a-shark-and-some-turtles-on-the-ap I went out on the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale on Saturday Aug 3, Noon push off. Capt. Frank at the helm. The AP crew - Capt. Jack, Mitch, Christine Naturalist Celia and a special guest appearance by PJ Sieswerda, President of Gotham Whale.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/8/4-whales-many-rays-a-shark-and-some-turtles-on-the-ap Sat, 03 Aug 2024 16:00:00 GMT
Seven whales Lunge feeding and a breach on the AP https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/8/seven-whales-lunge-feeding-and-a-breach-on-the-ap WOW What a day out on the American Princess Cruises whale watch out of Sheepshead Bay with Gotham Whale. Capt. Tom found us Seven whales on this day. 

Pictures tell it all. 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/8/seven-whales-lunge-feeding-and-a-breach-on-the-ap Thu, 01 Aug 2024 19:30:00 GMT
2024-07-20 Non-Stop Humpback Whale Action https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/7/2024-07-20-non-stop-humpback-whale-action WOW, what a week for whale watching in the NY Bight! From Cape May to Montauk and everywhere in-between was on fire with whale watching action! 
Saturday July 20th, I went out on the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale
Sea and air conditions: SW winds 10-15+ kts. Seas 2 to 3 ft choppy, water temp 70 degrees, mostly cloudy 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.
Many whales seen this day but there was one that gave us a show, a non-stop two-hour show. If causing a commotion was what this whale set out to do, they achieved their goal. The commotion – the whale started with breaching, one after another, after another. Spy hopped to see where it was, then into some chin slaps and pec slaps. Followed by some tail throws into tail slaps then into inverted tail slaps…NON-STOP inverted tail slaps, Into a few more breaches then a quick spy hop and back to inverted tail slaps. We had to leave, and the whale kept on with its show. We lost sight of the whale still going nuts!
A passenger said to me “I have traveled the world watching whales. Name the place, if it has to do with watching whales, I have been there. I have never seen a show like this, A humpback whale breaching with the NYC skyline as the backdrop” What is funny, this person lives 2 miles from this whale watching boat. But travels the world to see what was seen right here in their own backyard. 
Get out on a whale watching boat in the NY Bight and see what is going on out there!

Click on the name to follow the American Princess Cruises and Gotham Whale or go here and book your trip

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/7/2024-07-20-non-stop-humpback-whale-action Sat, 20 Jul 2024 20:00:00 GMT
4 Humpbacks (tandem Lunge feeding), 150+ Dolphins, school of Drum Fish, 100’s of Cownose Rays. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/7/4-humpbacks-tandem-lunge-feeding-150-dolphins-school-of-drum-fish-100-s-of-cownose-rays A great adventure today on the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale – and what a day to be out on the water.

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.        

 

                   

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/7/4-humpbacks-tandem-lunge-feeding-150-dolphins-school-of-drum-fish-100-s-of-cownose-rays Fri, 19 Jul 2024 20:00:00 GMT
2 Humpbacks, 3 Threshers, a few Cownose Rays on the AP https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/7/2-humpbacks-3-threshers-a-few-cownose-rays-on-the-ap Went out on the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale on Wednesday July 17th. Conditions partly sunny, 85 degrees, S winds 10 kt+, becoming SW late. Seas 4 to 5 ft, occasionally to 6 ft at 8 seconds.

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. 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2024/7/2-humpbacks-3-threshers-a-few-cownose-rays-on-the-ap Wed, 17 Jul 2024 20:00:00 GMT
2 humpbacks off Atlantic Beach - Striped bass lunge feed https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/10/2-humpbacks-off-atlantic-beach---striped-bass-lunge-feed Went out on the American Princess for a whale watch with Gotham Whale. Conditions were not the best but was way better than what the marine weather forecast was calling for. Actual conditions - West wind at 15kn to 25kn. Seas 2ft-4ft 60ish degrees and no rain.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/10/2-humpbacks-off-atlantic-beach---striped-bass-lunge-feed Sat, 21 Oct 2023 11:48:00 GMT
RIP NYC0323 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/8/rip-nyc0323 We have lost another one of our catalogued whales. The whale that washed up on Beach 9th, Far Rockaway NY was #NYC0323 in the New York City Humpback Whale Catalog.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/8/rip-nyc0323 Sat, 26 Aug 2023 13:30:00 GMT
Phil Lesh and Friends GSBMF. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/7/phil-lesh-and-friends-gsbmf Phil Lesh rocked the Great South Bay Music Festival. 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/7/phil-lesh-and-friends-gsbmf Sat, 22 Jul 2023 12:06:00 GMT
Montauk CRESLI Whale Watch - 14+ whales, 300 Dolphins a few Grey Seals. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/7/montauk-cresli-whale-watch---14-whales-300-dolphins-a-few-grey-seals Gotham Whale had a great trip out of Montauk on the Viking Fleet with CRESLI with Artie Kopelman. CRESLI (Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island)
Will be a guest on the AP soon, stay tuned.

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/7/montauk-cresli-whale-watch---14-whales-300-dolphins-a-few-grey-seals Wed, 19 Jul 2023 14:15:00 GMT
3 humpbacks and 40 Dolphin on the AP. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/7/3-humpbacks-and-40-dolphin-on-the-ap Never trust Meteorologists! The weather reports were for heavy rain and T-storms this Sunday, a total washout!! The actual weather this day was, warm with sunshine, a slight fog and smoke, no rain or thunder and lightning. Again - Never trust Meteorologists!

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/7/3-humpbacks-and-40-dolphin-on-the-ap Sun, 02 Jul 2023 20:00:00 GMT
100 dolphin off Rockaway, Atlantic 3 humpbacks in Ambrose on the AP https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/100-dolphin-off-rockaway-atlantic-3-humpbacks-in-ambrose-on-the-ap

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/100-dolphin-off-rockaway-atlantic-3-humpbacks-in-ambrose-on-the-ap Sun, 28 May 2023 19:18:00 GMT
Three active Humpbacks and 100 Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/three-active-humpbacks-and-100-dolphins “WOW…This trip was EPIC”. Not my words, but from the passengers on this Whale and Dolphin watch on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. As a matter of fact, Captain Frank and the crew of the AP said the same exact words and they see this stuff every day! And I will say this trip was EPIC on so many levels.

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.

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/three-active-humpbacks-and-100-dolphins Fri, 26 May 2023 16:00:00 GMT
9 Humpbacks 150 Dolphins Mothers Day in Ambrose on the AP https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/9-humpbacks-150-dolphins-mothers-day-in-ambrose-on-the-ap

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/9-humpbacks-150-dolphins-mothers-day-in-ambrose-on-the-ap Sun, 14 May 2023 19:18:00 GMT
7 Humpback Whales off Sandy Hook https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/7-humpback-whales-off-sandy-hook

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/7-humpback-whales-off-sandy-hook Sun, 07 May 2023 19:18:00 GMT
5 Humpbacks off Sandy Hook on the AP https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/5-humpbacks-off-sandy-hook-on-the-ap

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2023/5/5-humpbacks-off-sandy-hook-on-the-ap Sat, 06 May 2023 19:18:00 GMT
Captain Marty Haines service aboard the American Princess https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/8/captain-marty-haines-service-aboard-the-american-princess The American Princess pushed off the dock at 630am on a warm, bright and sunny morning. The destination – Liberty Island, The Statue of Liberty for Captain Marty Haines service. The winds were calm, Upper and Lower New York Bay were glass. Only waves in the Bay were from shipping traffic. The day and conditions were perfect, perfect for a memorial and sendoff for Capt. Marty Haines.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/8/captain-marty-haines-service-aboard-the-american-princess Thu, 25 Aug 2022 10:00:00 GMT
A Whale off the Hook https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/8/a-whale-off-the-hook A nice day out on the American Princess Cruises 3.5-hour Whale and Dolphin watch out of Sheepshead Bay. Summer conditions: Hazy-Hot-Humid. SW winds 10 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt late. Seas 2 to 4 ft. Chance of showers but it didn’t rain.

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.

The 2022 American Princess’ (AP) Whale Watching & Dolphin Adventure season has been amazing so far, time to get out and see what we see. Click on the link to book. 
 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/8/a-whale-off-the-hook Sat, 06 Aug 2022 13:49:00 GMT
6 whales in Ambrose on the AP https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/7/6-whales-in-ambrose-on-the-ap Great trip out on the AP this Sunday July 31st, we meetup with 6 whales in Ambrose. Action packed day! All the whales were lunge feeding, one did an awesome breach (no photos)…a fun time had by all. 

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/7/6-whales-in-ambrose-on-the-ap Sun, 31 Jul 2022 18:34:00 GMT
5 whales, a few threshers slaps, sunset cruise on the AP https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/7/5-whales-a-few-threshers-slaps-sunset-cruise-on-the-ap Went out on the American Princess Cruises Sunset Cruise on Thursday July 28th. We saw 5 whales, a few threshers slaps and some really good Humpback Action. If you haven't been on the American Princess for a Whale watch...NOW's THE TIME! Click on the link AMERICAN PRINCESS and go to this website, book a trip and bring a camera, go see what I see. You wont be disappointed. 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/7/5-whales-a-few-threshers-slaps-sunset-cruise-on-the-ap Thu, 28 Jul 2022 18:15:00 GMT
4 whales, a few large cownose rays and 200+ dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/7/4-whales-a-few-large-cownose-rays-and-200-dolphins A very good day on the American Princess Cruises today! 4 whales, a few large cownose rays and 200+ dolphins seen.

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! 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/7/4-whales-a-few-large-cownose-rays-and-200-dolphins Sun, 03 Jul 2022 20:00:00 GMT
1 whale #NYC0086 and 250+ Dolphins on the AP https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/6/1-whale-nyc0086-and-250-dolphins-on-the-ap I was out on the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin Cruises as a spotter, and photographer for Gotham Whale and the AP. Conditions - light winds at 5kts-10kts, seas 3ft-5ft ground swell, 80 degrees, hazy, bright sunshine with some cloud cover. A beautiful day to be out on the water.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2022/6/1-whale-nyc0086-and-250-dolphins-on-the-ap Sat, 25 Jun 2022 18:00:00 GMT
3 whales - Jerry https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2021/7/2021-07-30-3-whales---jerry Great day! 3 humpbacks – one was Jerry! A few Cownose Rays, a possible large Bluefin breach and some marine birds. Nice day out on the American Princess Cruises whale and dolphin adventure. Get out the AP and see what is going on, its amazing

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2021/7/2021-07-30-3-whales---jerry Fri, 30 Jul 2021 12:56:00 GMT
4 whales, two tandem. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/11/4-whales-two-tandem  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/11/4-whales-two-tandem Sat, 28 Nov 2020 05:43:00 GMT
Two Humpbacks and 3 Grey Seals https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/11/two-humpbacks-and-3-grey-seals On 11-27-2020 I was out on the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin watch as a spotter, and photographing for Gotham Whale and the AP, when we encountered NYC0089 off Breezy Point. The whale was with another Humpback and a few Grey Seals (love their faces).  The whale was feeding and by the looks of it, having a good time doing it. NYC0089 has a unique way of lunge feeding. It likes to come in on an angle, not straight on as most whales do. Some will say the reason for the angled lunge feeding is because the whale was in shallow waters. We did see this whale a few times, and this is mostly how the whale lunge feeds no matter the depth. I have seen a few other whales lunge feed like this; NYC0015 is one of them. But mostly the whales I see lunge feeding come straight up at the bunker ball from below the water- head on, not sideways.

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!

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/11/two-humpbacks-and-3-grey-seals Fri, 27 Nov 2020 15:12:00 GMT
3 whales and 200+ playful Dolphin off Breezy and Ambrose https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/11/3-whales-and-200-playful-dolphin-off-breezy-and-ambrose Photos taken aboard the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin Cruises. Book your adventure here.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/11/3-whales-and-200-playful-dolphin-off-breezy-and-ambrose Wed, 04 Nov 2020 12:56:00 GMT
5 Humpbacks, 25+ Dolphins off LB and Lido https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/5-humpbacks-25-dolphins-off-lb-and-lido  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/5-humpbacks-25-dolphins-off-lb-and-lido Sat, 31 Oct 2020 17:30:00 GMT
A Humpback off of ER Inlet and many dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/a-humpback-off-of-er-inlet-and-many-dolphins

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/a-humpback-off-of-er-inlet-and-many-dolphins Sun, 25 Oct 2020 17:43:00 GMT
ANOTHER entangled whale off Rockaway. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/another-entangled-whale-off-rockaway ANOTHER entangled whale off Rockaway.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/another-entangled-whale-off-rockaway Thu, 22 Oct 2020 19:22:00 GMT
A North Atlantic Right Whale entangled! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/a-north-atlantic-right-whale-entangled I was out on the American Princess on Sunday Oct 11th on a whale and dolphin watch. The day brought us off NNJ, with NYC always in sight. Captain Frank and Captain Tom were at the helm. We came upon a Humpback Whale off in the distance and were in transit to meet up with the whale. While in route, Capt. Frank saw a very faint blow closer to the AP, so we investigated the closer whale. From a distance the “Humpback” looked so beat up, it was worrisome. White and brown spots all over the whale, the peduncle and tail area were raw but healing. We get closer and notice no dorsal...Hmmm. Then we saw the blow from a good angle and it's heart shaped…Wow, can it be? The whale comes to the boat and it is a… NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE! WOW! We have only seen one NARW once before and it was entangled; this is our second on the AP! If you are a whale lover, this is exciting. Seeing a whale like this in NYC/NNJ waters is very rare!  There is an estimate of 200-400 NARW’s alive in this world, and we were on one now.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/a-north-atlantic-right-whale-entangled Sun, 11 Oct 2020 17:45:00 GMT
5 Humpbacks off Rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/2020-10-02-5-humpbacks-off-rockaway  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/2020-10-02-5-humpbacks-off-rockaway Fri, 02 Oct 2020 12:28:00 GMT
SEAFARI - 11 Humpbacks, 100+ Dolphins. Jerry was in the mix! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/seafari---11-humpbacks-100-dolphins-jerry-was-in-the-mix A successful second Seafari yesterday on American Princess Cruises. 11 Humpback Whales, 100+ very playful Dolphin. Tandem swimming pairs of humpbacks and dolphin swimming together. One of the Humpbacks was NYC’s most famous whale – Jerry! A great day was had by all.


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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/10/seafari---11-humpbacks-100-dolphins-jerry-was-in-the-mix Thu, 01 Oct 2020 13:18:00 GMT
5 whales and dolphins off of Rockaway and Jersey https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/5-whales-and-dolphins-off-of-rockaway-and-jersey  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/5-whales-and-dolphins-off-of-rockaway-and-jersey Sun, 27 Sep 2020 14:15:00 GMT
SEAFARI https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/seafari The Seafari was incredible! It was from 7am to 5pm on Sept 17th and Captain Frank went where he knew whales would be. The ocean conditions were perfect! Almost no chop at all, a very small 2ft ground swell at 9 seconds. Overcast skies with some scattered light showers that never bothered the passengers. The official count was 8 humpbacks, 4 Minkes, Sharks, turtles, some bluefish action, great views and great company. The boat was filled with serious whale and bird watchers. For the birders it did not work out too well, no fault of the captain. We went to the mud hole and it is usually packed with all different types of bird life and there was nothing. No whales, dolphins, or fish life on the surface. A shark here and there but tons of jellies and a few Turtles which was cool. I had a camera malfunction on the 1DXII, and all 760 photos shot were not sharp- they all went into the trash bin. The amazing Oatmeal, Cherry, White Chocolate Chip Cookies kept my mind off the malfunctioning camera, thanks Beth.

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/seafari Thu, 17 Sep 2020 15:56:00 GMT
Dolphins in ER Inlet https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/dolphins-in-er-inlet  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/dolphins-in-er-inlet Mon, 07 Sep 2020 15:56:00 GMT
4 Whales off NJ https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/4-wahles-off-nj  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/4-wahles-off-nj Sun, 06 Sep 2020 15:42:00 GMT
Sunset Cruise https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/sunset-cruise  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/sunset-cruise Sat, 05 Sep 2020 15:42:00 GMT
Giant Bluefin Tuna breaching, 5 whales, dolphin, cownose rays...WHAT A DAY! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/giant-blefin-tuna-breaching-5-whales-dolphin-cownose-rays-what-a-day Went out on the American Princess with Gotham Whale for a double header whale and dolphin watch and it was spectacular. I need to say, I am out on the water whale watching a lot. It is an amazing sight to see whales and dolphins here in NYC, just amazing. But I am jaded. A great day for me is seeing the madness of an acrobatic humpback whale, like tail throws, breaches, pectoral fin slapping, lunge feeding with bunker flying everywhere…that’s the ticket! Just seeing whales is awesome, but I like the action. Sometimes while whale watching you see marine mammals, birds, and fish you never would expect.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/9/giant-blefin-tuna-breaching-5-whales-dolphin-cownose-rays-what-a-day Sat, 05 Sep 2020 13:58:00 GMT
One Humpback, Two Finbacks and 300 Dolphin https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/one-humpback-two-finbacks-and-300-dolphin  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/one-humpback-two-finbacks-and-300-dolphin Fri, 21 Aug 2020 18:27:00 GMT
One Humpback Whale off Riis Park. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/one-humpback-whale-off-riis-park  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/one-humpback-whale-off-riis-park Fri, 21 Aug 2020 02:05:02 GMT
3 Whales Sunset Cruise https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/2020-08-20-3-whales-sunset-cruise  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/2020-08-20-3-whales-sunset-cruise Thu, 20 Aug 2020 21:00:00 GMT
Sunset cruise, one humpback. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/sunset-cruise-one-humpback  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/sunset-cruise-one-humpback Thu, 13 Aug 2020 04:36:00 GMT
one whale in Ambrose. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/sunset-cruise  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/sunset-cruise Sun, 09 Aug 2020 04:36:00 GMT
Dolphin Becomes Trapped in East Rockaway’s Mill River. My home town! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/dolphin-becomes-trapped-in-east-rockaway-s-mill-river-my-home-town Dolphin Becomes Trapped in East Rockaway’s Mill River. I was staying away from posting any photos or information about the situation, but the news is out.

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!!!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/dolphin-becomes-trapped-in-east-rockaway-s-mill-river-my-home-town Sat, 01 Aug 2020 19:50:10 GMT
Sunset cruise off the BA buoy. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/sunset-cruise-off-the-ba-buoy  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/8/sunset-cruise-off-the-ba-buoy Sat, 01 Aug 2020 04:36:00 GMT
Whales off Rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/whales-off-rockaway

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/whales-off-rockaway Sun, 26 Jul 2020 04:36:00 GMT
4 whales and Spinner Sharks https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/4-whales-and-spinner-sharks What a beautiful day from start to finish out whale watching with friends. Perfect conditions, 1-2 ft waves, an easy wind, bright sunshine, and a giant ocean to go find new and old sights.

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.

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/4-whales-and-spinner-sharks Sat, 25 Jul 2020 14:44:00 GMT
5 whales (maybe Six) Cow Nose Rays and a few Sharks. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/5-whales-maybe-six-cow-nose-rays-and-a-few-sharks  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/5-whales-maybe-six-cow-nose-rays-and-a-few-sharks Sun, 19 Jul 2020 17:20:00 GMT
Two whales off Breezy https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/two-whales-off-breezy  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/two-whales-off-breezy Thu, 16 Jul 2020 16:00:00 GMT
One sleepy whale in Ambrose. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/one-sleepy-whale-in-ambrose  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/one-sleepy-whale-in-ambrose Sun, 12 Jul 2020 04:00:00 GMT
Pier 3 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/pier-3-in-sheepshead-bay-brooklyn  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/7/pier-3-in-sheepshead-bay-brooklyn Wed, 01 Jul 2020 04:00:00 GMT
Half-Step @ JP Morgan Farm https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/5/half-step-jp-morgan-farm  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/5/half-step-jp-morgan-farm Thu, 21 May 2020 19:00:00 GMT
HALF-STEP Barnum Ballroom 2020-01-25 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/1/half-step-barnum-ballroom-2020-01-25 Shot these photos of HALF-STEP Grateful Dead Tribute Band at the new concert hall Barnum Ballroom in Island Park. Love this new venue for local Long Island bands, very nice space!

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/1/half-step-barnum-ballroom-2020-01-25 Sat, 25 Jan 2020 18:17:00 GMT
Half-Step at STUDIO THEATRE on NYE https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/1/half-step-at-studio-theatre-on-nye Went to see “Half-Step” at the Studio Theatre in Lindenhurst to ring in 2020. Many were shut out of the theater due to the 160-person occupancy. Next NYE they might need a bigger venue! If they do choose to move to another venue, I am hoping it’s at the new concert hall venue in Island Park called "Barnum Ballroom". Which Half-Step will be playing at on Saturday Jan 25th.

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.

           

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2020/1/half-step-at-studio-theatre-on-nye Thu, 02 Jan 2020 01:53:00 GMT
RIP #NYC0159, looks like you had a hard life. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/rip-nyc0159-looks-like-you-had-a-hard-life  

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 extraordinaireDanielle 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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/rip-nyc0159-looks-like-you-had-a-hard-life Tue, 19 Nov 2019 16:37:13 GMT
2019-11-11 1 fluking whale and thick bunker pods with Sharks off AB https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/2019-11-11-1-fluking-whale-and-thick-bunker-pods-with-sharks-off-ab  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/2019-11-11-1-fluking-whale-and-thick-bunker-pods-with-sharks-off-ab Tue, 12 Nov 2019 01:52:11 GMT
2019-11-09 1 fluking whale off LB https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/2019-11-09-1-fluking-whale-off-lb  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/2019-11-09-1-fluking-whale-off-lb Sat, 09 Nov 2019 15:35:00 GMT
2019-11-03 A Family of Dolphins off AB https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/2019-11-03-a-family-of-dolphins-off-ab  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/2019-11-03-a-family-of-dolphins-off-ab Mon, 04 Nov 2019 00:46:18 GMT
2019-11-02 A few frisky Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/2019-11-02-a-few-frisky-dolphins  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/11/2019-11-02-a-few-frisky-dolphins Sat, 02 Nov 2019 11:41:00 GMT
2019-10-26 A humpback off NYC https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-26-a-humpback-off-nyc  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-26-a-humpback-off-nyc Sat, 26 Oct 2019 22:08:51 GMT
2019-10-25 A humpback and a Minke https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-25-a-humpback-and-a-minke  

   

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-25-a-humpback-and-a-minke Sat, 26 Oct 2019 11:10:32 GMT
2019-10-19 The Day of the Dolphins! Two Humpbacks and 100's of Dolphins. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-19-the-day-of-the-dolphins-two-humpbacks-and-100s-of-dolphins Ocean conditions were like being on a bay, a small bay…near perfect. Air was chilly but that’s what jackets are for. I went out on the AP as a spotter and photographer for Gotham Whale. Before I go further, get out on the American Princess Cruises; it's worth every penny they charge, and it’s a reasonable price as well!

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!

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-19-the-day-of-the-dolphins-two-humpbacks-and-100s-of-dolphins Sat, 19 Oct 2019 14:17:00 GMT
2019-10-14 5 Whales 300 dolphins, a very large Thresher and maybe Pilot Whales https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-14-5-whales-300-dolphins-a-very-large-thresher I had a great day whale watching on Columbus Day! I went out on the SHIP OF FOOLS and encountered 5 Humpbacks, 300 dolphins, a very large Thresher Shark which hung around the area for hours eating Striped Bass and "maybe" a Pilot Whale or two in the mix of Dolphins.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-14-5-whales-300-dolphins-a-very-large-thresher Tue, 15 Oct 2019 11:12:59 GMT
2019-10-06 1 Humpback, 100 plus Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-06-2-humpbacks-100-plus-dolphins  

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-06-2-humpbacks-100-plus-dolphins Mon, 07 Oct 2019 20:53:55 GMT
2019-10-05 4 Humpbacks, 1 Minke, 1 Fin, 10 Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-05-4-humpbacks-1-minkie-1-fin-10-dolphins Wow what a great day today on the American Princess Cruises whale and dolphin watch. It was a little chilly, the ocean was nice with light winds and manageable ocean conditions. Great crowd with a few friends in the mix and a TV crew documenting wildlife in NYC.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-05-4-humpbacks-1-minkie-1-fin-10-dolphins Sat, 05 Oct 2019 23:45:41 GMT
2019-10-01 Dead Whale from Lido West now on Long Beach https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-01-dead-whale-from-lido-west-now-on-long-beach Went down to take some up-close ID photos and as expected the Deceased Male Humpback Whale floated west in the surf and landed at Franklin Beach in Long Beach NY. LBDPW was on the scene maneuvering the whale out of the surf with two pay movers (standard practice) and off the rocks to a safe, secure area so a necropsy can be performed. Looking a little closer my observations from yesterday seem to be correct. It’s a Male (obviously) Humpback Whale, and very young- I'm guessing between 2yo-4yo and is roughly 20ft. Looks like some trauma to the whale suggesting a ship strike of some sort. It is in a state of decay and I was hoping to capture some tack sharp fluke photos to share with other orgs and that was not possible. In drifting down the beach, almost all the fluke markings were worn off the whale, but I do have good photos from yesterday. This humpback will be dissected in a necropsy and buried where it lays. The necropsy results will follow in the upcoming months. Whales do die of natural causes- let's hope this one did. BUT the leading causes of Humpback Whale deaths are ship strikes, ingesting plastics or entanglements in fishing gear. I think it was a ship strike with this young one. These are not nice pictures to see or take! The photos were taken to document a humpback whale washing up event.    

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/10/2019-10-01-dead-whale-from-lido-west-now-on-long-beach Tue, 01 Oct 2019 13:15:25 GMT
2019-09-30 Dead Whale Lido West https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/9/2019-09-30-dead-whale-lido-west
There is a dead Humpback Whale washed up but still in the surf on Lido West Beach. It is still somewhat floating and is moving slowly in the surf, west towards Long Beach. We went down to pay our respects and grab a few Identification photos. The whale is small, its very tough to gauge the size of a whale and age. Guessing its 20-25ft? looks to be a young whale. It has Orca marks that are healed, all over its Fluke, it was harassed in its young life. Might be wrong on this, but it looks to have a few shark bites or attempts to bite the whale on its underside, on the ventral pleats. Its being rolled in the surf and very hard to get good shots with the low light to get good clear shots. We will be down at the beach tomorrow for better photos, for ID purposes. May this young Male Humpback Whale rest in peace.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/9/2019-09-30-dead-whale-lido-west Tue, 01 Oct 2019 00:29:32 GMT
2019-09-20 3 Whales 5 Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/9/2019-09-20-3-whales-5-dolphins  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/9/2019-09-20-3-whales-5-dolphins Fri, 20 Sep 2019 11:15:00 GMT
2019-09-02 1 humpback some dolphin and heavy rain https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/9/2019-09-02-1-humpback-some-dolphin-and-heavy-rain  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/9/2019-09-02-1-humpback-some-dolphin-and-heavy-rain Mon, 02 Sep 2019 12:11:00 GMT
2019-09-01 1 humpback lunge feeding large pod of dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/9/2019-09-01-1-humpback-lunge-feeding-large-pod-of-dolphins Photos taken on the American Princess Cruises with/for Gotham Whale.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/9/2019-09-01-1-humpback-lunge-feeding-large-pod-of-dolphins Sun, 01 Sep 2019 12:31:00 GMT
2019-08-31 4 Whales https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-31-4-whales  

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-31-4-whales Sat, 31 Aug 2019 12:06:00 GMT
2019-08-30 4 Whales, tons of Bunker and a Hammer Head Shark. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-30-4-whales-tons-of-bunker-and-a-hammer-head-shark  

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-30-4-whales-tons-of-bunker-and-a-hammer-head-shark Sat, 31 Aug 2019 11:11:24 GMT
2019-08-29 1 active Humpback, 30-50 Dolphin and a Kemp's Ridley Turtle https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-29-1-active-humpback-30-50-dolphin-and-a-kemp-ridley-turtle Woohooo what a day! If you were one of the 115 or so people on the deck of the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin watch today consider yourself lucky! The sightings – A very active Humpback Whale with breaches, tail slapping, lunge feedings and some close passes (the whale’s choice). 30-50 Dolphins with calves, and a select few got a glimpse of a large Kemp's Ridley sea turtle popping up to the surface for a breath.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-29-1-active-humpback-30-50-dolphin-and-a-kemp-ridley-turtle Thu, 29 Aug 2019 12:38:00 GMT
2019-08-25 2 whales Raritan https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-25-2-whales-raritan

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-25-2-whales-raritan Sun, 25 Aug 2019 11:33:00 GMT
2019-08-24 2 whales (one was NYC0071) in Raritan https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-24-2-whales-one-was-nyc0071-in-raritan  

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-24-2-whales-one-was-nyc0071-in-raritan Sat, 24 Aug 2019 11:33:00 GMT
2019-08-15 5pm Sunset Trip - 1 whale Lower NY Harbor. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-15-5pm-sunset-trip---1-whale-lower-ny-harbor Nice sunset run! We met up with an active Humpback that was all over the place. On the right, then to the left, feet away from the boat then a 1/2 mile away. This whale keeps them guessing on where he will be next; not good for photos but it's good for the whale, very stealthy.

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-15-5pm-sunset-trip---1-whale-lower-ny-harbor Thu, 15 Aug 2019 17:00:00 GMT
2019-08-15 Noon - 1 whale Raritan https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-15-noon---1-whale-raritan  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-15-noon---1-whale-raritan Thu, 15 Aug 2019 16:00:00 GMT
2019-08-14 One whale in Raritan. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-14-one-whale-in-raritan  

                       

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-14-one-whale-in-raritan Thu, 15 Aug 2019 01:14:47 GMT
2019-08-11 Two whales - Sandy Hook and one off Rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-11-two-whales---sandy-hook-and-one-off-rockaway  

                     

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-11-two-whales---sandy-hook-and-one-off-rockaway Sun, 11 Aug 2019 18:55:00 GMT
2019-08-10 2 Whales, one looks to be recovering from an entanglement and 1 lone dolphin https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-10-2-whales-one-looks-to-be-recovering-from-an-entanglement-and-1-lone-dolphin
This Humpback looks to be recovering from a horrific entanglement. That brown or reddish-brown all over the Humpback are Hundreds of thousands of "Whale lice" a unique type of crustacean called Cyamids. The amount of hitchhikers (Whale Lice in this case) on a whale can offer clues as to the animal’s overall health. From the looks of it, this Humpbacks health is not good BUT...It is alive! The whale is swimming well, breathing and eating and looks to free of netting or fishing gear but I didn't get a fluke shot so who knows??? With the amount of damage on this whale’s body, it makes me think this whale was part of a rescue attempt that went well or this whale is very very lucky!
 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-10-2-whales-one-looks-to-be-recovering-from-an-entanglement-and-1-lone-dolphin Sat, 10 Aug 2019 15:14:00 GMT
2019-08-04 3 humpbacks, 200 dolphins, 1000's of Cownose Rays and jumping Sturgeon https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-04-3-humpbacks-200-dolphins-1000s-of-cownose-rays-and-jumping-sturgeon This was a good day out despite the stupidity of the actions of a lone Sandy Hook Pilot Boat Captain.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-04-3-humpbacks-200-dolphins-1000s-of-cownose-rays-and-jumping-sturgeon Sun, 04 Aug 2019 13:35:00 GMT
2019-08-03 JERRY OFF JERSEY https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-03-jerry-off-jersey
Jerry #NYC0011, the most famous of the NYC whales, was seen today. He was Lunge Feeding, pec slapping and enjoying his time in the NYC area munching out on Menhaden when hungry. Jerry like's to vacation, has been documented traveling between Montauk and Breezy and back in the same year. It’s a long summer, I would not be surprised if Jerry shows up in Montauk for a few weeks in mid-august and back here in NYC for an early September showing. It's an educated guess.

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!

 

 
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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-03-jerry-off-jersey Sat, 03 Aug 2019 13:12:00 GMT
2019-08-02 one whale, many dolphins and jumping Atlantic Sturgeon! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-02-one-whale-and-many-dolphins Great day overall- conditions were nice, the passengers were crazy, and we saw one whale, many dolphins and jumping Atlantic Sturgeon!

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-02-one-whale-and-many-dolphins Sat, 03 Aug 2019 00:24:01 GMT
2019-08-01 Sunset cruise two whales https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-01-sunset-cruise-two-whales  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-01-sunset-cruise-two-whales Thu, 01 Aug 2019 21:00:00 GMT
2019-08-01 One whale off Jersey - Noon Trip https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-01-one-whale-off-jersey---noon-trip

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/8/2019-08-01-one-whale-off-jersey---noon-trip Thu, 01 Aug 2019 16:00:00 GMT
2019-07-31 Two whales Big Storms https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-31-two-whales-big-storms  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-31-two-whales-big-storms Wed, 31 Jul 2019 16:00:00 GMT
2019-07-27 two Humpbacks and 30 Dolphin https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-27-two-humpbacks-and-30-dolphin

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-27-two-humpbacks-and-30-dolphin Sat, 27 Jul 2019 13:35:00 GMT
2019-07-25 A PERFECT SUNSET CRUISE! Two active humpbacks!! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-25-a-perfect-sunset-cruise-two-active-humpbacks A PERFECT SUNSET CRUISE!

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! 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-25-a-perfect-sunset-cruise-two-active-humpbacks Thu, 25 Jul 2019 12:41:00 GMT
2019-07-21 TWO WHALES AND A POD OF DOLPHINS https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-21-two-whales-and-a-pod-of-dolphins

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-21-two-whales-and-a-pod-of-dolphins Tue, 23 Jul 2019 11:51:48 GMT
2019-07-17 3 Humpback Whales https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-17-3-humpback-whales You never know what you are going to see when you're out on a whale watch from the deck of the American Princess. The action is hot and you have to get it while it's here! So I took the day and went out, and what a call! This was a great day, so much to see.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-17-3-humpback-whales Thu, 18 Jul 2019 12:11:58 GMT
JERRY IS BACK! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/jerry-is-back JERRY IS BACK!

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!!!  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/jerry-is-back Mon, 15 Jul 2019 13:50:54 GMT
2019-07-14 5 whales JERRY and one in the Bay https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-14-5-whales-jerry-and-one-in-the-bay

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-14-5-whales-jerry-and-one-in-the-bay Sun, 14 Jul 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-07-13 2 Whales Raritan https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-13-2-whales-raritan

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-13-2-whales-raritan Sat, 13 Jul 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-07-07 Lungefest Ambrose 4 whales https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-07-lungefest-ambrose-4-whales

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-07-lungefest-ambrose-4-whales Sun, 07 Jul 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-07-06 4 whales in Raritan https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-06-4-whales-in-raritan

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-06-4-whales-in-raritan Sat, 06 Jul 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-07-05 3 Humpbacks Raritan Bay https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-05-3-humpbacks-raritan-bay

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-05-3-humpbacks-raritan-bay Fri, 05 Jul 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-07-04 Dolphins at the Inlet https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-04-dolphins-at-the-inlet

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-04-dolphins-at-the-inlet Thu, 04 Jul 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-07-03 2 breaching whales 300 Dolphin - Sandy Hook https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-03-2-breaching-whales-300-dolphin---sandy-hook

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/7/2019-07-03-2-breaching-whales-300-dolphin---sandy-hook Wed, 03 Jul 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-30 Dolphins at the last minute https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-30-dolphins-at-the-last-minute

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-30-dolphins-at-the-last-minute Sun, 30 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-29 Two Humpbacks Ambrose https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-29-two-humpbacks-ambrose

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-29-two-humpbacks-ambrose Sat, 29 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-28 AP 2 Whales off the Highlands https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-28-ap-2-whales-off-the-highlands

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-28-ap-2-whales-off-the-highlands Fri, 28 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-23 Breaching Whale Hundreds of Dolphins off AB https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-23-breaching-whale-hundreds-of-dolphins-off-ab

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-23-breaching-whale-hundreds-of-dolphins-off-ab Sun, 23 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-22 2 whales off Sandy https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-22-2-whales-off-sandy

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-22-2-whales-off-sandy Sat, 22 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-21 AP 2 Sleepy whales Sandy Hook https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-21-ap-2-sleepy-whales-sandy-hook

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-21-ap-2-sleepy-whales-sandy-hook Fri, 21 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-16 3 Humpbacks off Sandy Hook https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-16-3-humpbacks-off-sandy-hook

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-16-3-humpbacks-off-sandy-hook Sun, 16 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-07 Whales and Dolphins off Far Rockaway and Atlantic Beach https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-07-whales-and-dolphins-off-far-rockaway-and-atlantic-beach

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-07-whales-and-dolphins-off-far-rockaway-and-atlantic-beach Fri, 07 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-06-02 Whales Sea Shepherd https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-02-whales-sea-shepherd

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/6/2019-06-02-whales-sea-shepherd Sun, 02 Jun 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-05-24 5-7 Whales off Rockaway SOF https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/5/2019-05-24-5-7-whales-off-rockaway-sof

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/5/2019-05-24-5-7-whales-off-rockaway-sof Fri, 24 May 2019 14:21:00 GMT
2019-05-18 3whales - NYC0071 and two other whales https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/5/2019-05-18-3whales---nyc0071-and-two-other-whales

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/5/2019-05-18-3whales---nyc0071-and-two-other-whales Sat, 18 May 2019 14:21:00 GMT
Winter Jamboree - Tiger Rose https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/2/winter-jamboree---tiger-rose

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/2/winter-jamboree---tiger-rose Wed, 27 Feb 2019 15:14:46 GMT
Winter Jamboree - Jellyband https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/2/winter-jamboree---jellyband Jim Fontana, Kevin Griffin, Mike Katzman, Ann McInerney, Jesse Smith, Jellyband, Warehouse, Nina Ezrati Wagner and John Cino

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/2/winter-jamboree---jellyband Sun, 24 Feb 2019 21:15:00 GMT
Winter Jamboree - The Brother Pluckers https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/2/winter-jamboree---the-brother-pluckers The Brother Pluckers at The Warehouse L.I. with Cindy Lopez Brett Desing Mike Costello Jim Fleming Nina Ezrati Wagner John Cino and Rich Bente.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/2/winter-jamboree---the-brother-pluckers Sun, 24 Feb 2019 18:00:00 GMT
NO BUNKER- NO WHALES https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/2/no-bunker--no-whales 2019-02-05 - These bills are now passed.

 

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2019/2/no-bunker--no-whales Sun, 03 Feb 2019 15:30:00 GMT
NYC0073, NYC0106 and maybe a Finback Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/12/nyc0073-nyc0106-and-maybe-a-finback-whale Days like this are rare in Dec. Not a breath of wind, flat ocean, sea like glass, sunshine and 55 degrees.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/12/nyc0073-nyc0106-and-maybe-a-finback-whale Sat, 01 Dec 2018 14:17:00 GMT
4 humpbacks and dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/10/4-humpbacks-and-dolphins Nice day out on the water. It was cold, but you dress for it. The wind was brisk but that makes it interesting. It's incredible how quick the ocean conditions change; it started out nautical and ended in a very mellow beautiful ocean. 

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?  
 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/10/4-humpbacks-and-dolphins Sat, 13 Oct 2018 13:56:00 GMT
One of my favorite days so far this year. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/9/one-of-my-favorite-days-so-far-this-year I shot these Saturday, September 29th on the NYC Whale Watching boat the American Princess with Gotham Whale.

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. 


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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/9/one-of-my-favorite-days-so-far-this-year Sat, 29 Sep 2018 17:26:00 GMT
Leaping humpback, some dolphins and a surf photo shoot. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/9/leaping-humpback-some-dolphins-and-a-surf-photo-shoot I had the chance to run out on my boat and look for some humpbacks on Wednesday, September 19th.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/9/leaping-humpback-some-dolphins-and-a-surf-photo-shoot Wed, 19 Sep 2018 14:39:00 GMT
MENHADEN AKA BUNKER ARE BEING TAKEN IN THE MILLIONS! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/menhaden-aka-bunker-are-being-taken-in-the-millions I am going to tell you, what I saw today was extremely upsetting to me!

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.

Want to know how they catch a million menhaden a day? Here is a detailed look at the vessel Rappahannock and what a day looks like menhaden fishing.

Here is an award-winning documentary on menhaden that was produced by The Nature Conservancy & Red Vault Productions. I am very proud to be part of this documentary!

 




 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/menhaden-aka-bunker-are-being-taken-in-the-millions Fri, 31 Aug 2018 00:45:59 GMT
The Sea was angry that day my friend - 4 Humpbacks and one epic day. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/the-sea-was-angry-that-day-my-friend---4-humpbacks-and-one-epic-day Out on the American Princess Cruises whale and dolphin adventure with Gotham Whale, ocean conditions were challenging but manageable! Waves were a very choppy 3-6ft with a solid wind at 20mph out of the SSE with gusts over 30mph. The ocean kept building with the wind on it hard, but it was an awesome trip! I love it when it gets snotty out on the ocean. You get thrown around, and it’s very hard to shoot and keep the long lens steady. It’s a challenge but it’s so much fun!

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.  

I say this to anyone who will listen. There are whales in the waters of NYC and Nassau County and the American Princess is the boat to go on to see the action! If you haven’t gone out on the AP, what are you waiting for? Book your trip here.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/the-sea-was-angry-that-day-my-friend---4-humpbacks-and-one-epic-day Sun, 26 Aug 2018 13:19:00 GMT
One whale and 150 Dolphin https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/one-whale-and-150-dolphin Ocean and weather conditions were nearly perfect today. We charge out of Breezy and hit a few dolphins right off the bat. We don’t stop; there are bigger and better things to follow, no offense to those dolphins.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/one-whale-and-150-dolphin Sat, 25 Aug 2018 13:52:00 GMT
NYC0058, a UNID Humpback and 40 dolphin https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/nyc0058-a-unid-humpback-and-40-dolphin Ocean conditions were near perfect, 0-2ft with calm winds and an ocean temp of upper 70’s. Had a good crowd on the boat, everyone was in high spirits.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/nyc0058-a-unid-humpback-and-40-dolphin Fri, 24 Aug 2018 15:18:00 GMT
Playful Dolphin in NY Harbor https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/playful-dolphin-in-ny-harbor Went out with/as Gotham Whale on the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin watch on Sunday, August 19th.  ENE winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Slight chance of light rain and drizzle late in the morning with a chance of a thunderstorm throughout the day. Water temp is warm at 79 degrees. Full boat of whale and dolphin watchers ready to go on an adventure.

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! 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/playful-dolphin-in-ny-harbor Sun, 19 Aug 2018 13:33:00 GMT
JERRY! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/jerry

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/jerry Sun, 12 Aug 2018 13:33:00 GMT
2 Humpbacks Ambrose https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/2-humpbacks-ambrose

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/2-humpbacks-ambrose Fri, 10 Aug 2018 22:25:24 GMT
1 Humpback Ambrose https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/1-humpback-ambrose

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/1-humpback-ambrose Sun, 05 Aug 2018 20:50:00 GMT
JERRY'S BACK! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/jerrys-back NYC0011, aka “Jerry,” is Gotham Whale’s most famous whale in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog. "Jerry the whale" is the whale in the famous photo of a spy hopping humpback whale in line with the Empire State Building. That photo has been given credit by some to raising worldwide awareness that Humpback Whales are in NYC waters.

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!

 

JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) Jerry - the WhaleJerry - the WhaleJerry offLong Beach taking big gulps of Bunker! Jerry - the WhaleJerry - the WhaleJerry offLong Beach taking big gulps of Bunker! Jerry - the WhaleJerry - the WhaleJerry offLong Beach taking big gulps of Bunker!  

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/jerrys-back Sun, 05 Aug 2018 14:56:09 GMT
4 Humpbacks AND 30 Dolphins (Jerry NYC0011) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/4-humpbacks-and-30-dolphins-jerry-nyc0011

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/4-humpbacks-and-30-dolphins-jerry-nyc0011 Sat, 04 Aug 2018 15:16:00 GMT
2 Humpbacks side by side https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/2-humpbacks-side-by-side

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/8/2-humpbacks-side-by-side Fri, 03 Aug 2018 15:16:00 GMT
2 Humpback 12 Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/2-humpback-12-dolphins

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/2-humpback-12-dolphins Sun, 29 Jul 2018 15:16:00 GMT
1 Humpback 12 Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/1-humpback-12-dolphins

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/1-humpback-12-dolphins Sat, 28 Jul 2018 15:16:00 GMT
Humpback whale in Raritan Bay https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/humpback-whale-in-raritan-bay

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/humpback-whale-in-raritan-bay Sun, 22 Jul 2018 15:39:00 GMT
2 humpbacks nyc0071 Raritan https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/1-humpback-whale-in-raritan-bay

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/1-humpback-whale-in-raritan-bay Sat, 21 Jul 2018 15:16:00 GMT
5 humpbacks in Raritan! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/5-humpbacks-in-raritan Friday July 20th. A great crowd on the AP today, with a bunch of regulars. The ocean conditions didn’t matter- we stayed in lower NY Harbor and Raritan Bay. Wind was 15-20mph with bright sunshine and 75 degrees, a perfect day out on the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin Adventure!

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!   

The American Princess Cruises goes out whale and dolphin watching 5 days a week during the summer. It is highly recommended!

p

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/7/5-humpbacks-in-raritan Fri, 20 Jul 2018 14:19:00 GMT
NYC0081 and 50 Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/nyc0081-and-50-dolphins What a day yesterday! Light winds and near flat conditions. Water temps are up in the high 60’s, the water was a beautiful green/blue and clear.

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!!!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/nyc0081-and-50-dolphins Sat, 30 Jun 2018 15:41:00 GMT
The Dogs of War https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/the-dogs-of-war The Dogs of War

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/the-dogs-of-war Sat, 23 Jun 2018 03:24:04 GMT
NYC0071 the entangled Humpback returns to NYC? https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/nyc0071-the-entangled-humpback-returns-to-nyc Incredible news!

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!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/nyc0071-the-entangled-humpback-returns-to-nyc Fri, 22 Jun 2018 15:47:00 GMT
a Humpback and 100 Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/a-humpback-and-100-dolphins A perfect day out on the water today. Partly Cloudy, 72 degrees with SW winds 5 to 10 kt, waves 1 ft or less.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/a-humpback-and-100-dolphins Sun, 17 Jun 2018 14:53:39 GMT
Belmont https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/belmont Here’s some shots of Belmont before the Belmont Stakes this week. Had the pleasure of a Bell 429 helicopter ride above and was at the track a few times on the ground. Today will be fun 90+ thousand, a chance to see a Triple Crown happen and Third Eye Blind closing it out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/belmont Sat, 09 Jun 2018 14:15:00 GMT
2018-06-02 5 Humpbacks and 50+ Dolphins off Rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/2018-06-02-5-humpbacks-and-50-dolphins-off-rockaway Calm seas, light winds and reports of Whales and Dolphins off all NY beaches. Looks like it will be a good day out on American Princess Cruises' newest addition to the fleet, the “ATLANTIC PEARL.”

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/6/2018-06-02-5-humpbacks-and-50-dolphins-off-rockaway Sat, 02 Jun 2018 11:32:00 GMT
3 whales off Jersey https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/3-whales-off-jersey

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/3-whales-off-jersey Mon, 28 May 2018 11:35:00 GMT
Dead Humpback Whale on Long Beach - The Circus is in town! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/dead-humpback-whale-on-long-beach---the-circus-is-in-town How sad is this! AND I am not just talking about the dead Humpback Whale on the beach, I’m talking about the crowd, their actions and everything about it. The Circus is town!

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

02-13-2018 Dead Humpback Whale washed up on Breezy Point, NY. Park Rangers and NYPD stood-on the Humpback Whale. Death, 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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/dead-humpback-whale-on-long-beach---the-circus-is-in-town Sun, 20 May 2018 04:20:00 GMT
WHAT A DAY! 2 Humpbacks and 1 was an acrobat! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/what-a-day-2-humpbacks-and-1-was-an-acrobat WHAT A DAY! Today was one of the best American Princess Whale Watches I have ever been on...PERIOD!

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.

 

                                      

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/what-a-day-2-humpbacks-and-1-was-an-acrobat Sat, 12 May 2018 14:04:00 GMT
Special Whale Watch with Eyewitness News Ch. 7 NY - No Whales but Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/special-whale-watch-with-eyewitness-news-ch-7-ny---no-whales-but-dolphins

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/special-whale-watch-with-eyewitness-news-ch-7-ny---no-whales-but-dolphins Wed, 09 May 2018 14:04:00 GMT
Sunday May 6th Whale Watch https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/sunday-may-6th-whale-watch

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/sunday-may-6th-whale-watch Sun, 06 May 2018 14:04:00 GMT
Saturday May 5th. One "NEW" Humpback #NYC0078 aka "CINCO" and 70 Dolphin https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/-nyc0078-aka-cinco-and-70-dolphin May 5th: the first Whale Watch for Gotham Whale on the American Princess Cruises in the 2018 Whale Watching season. The ocean conditions were perfect with light variable winds and a 5-foot ground swell. A small crowd on hand but they made up for it with enthusiasm.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/5/-nyc0078-aka-cinco-and-70-dolphin Sat, 05 May 2018 23:00:00 GMT
My photos used by the press. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/4/press This is where I will post some of the media coverage that includes my photos. 

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/4/press Mon, 16 Apr 2018 10:47:40 GMT
Saturday April 14th 2018, Swinburne Island Seals https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/4/swinburne Conditions were very nice at the beginning of the run. Light winds at the start, picking up as the cruise went on. Temps were in the 70’s at the dock when we pushed off and it did get a little chilly at times on that open water. Ocean waves are not a factor with the Seal cruise to Swinburne Island, NY bay/harbor was a flat to 1ft chop.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/4/swinburne Sat, 14 Apr 2018 13:36:00 GMT
Saturday April 07th 2018, Swinburne Island Seals https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/4/saturday-april-07th-2018-swinburne-island-seals North winds 5 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Waves on upper NY Harbor were 1 ft or less. Air temp a cold 42 degrees and partly cloudy skies.

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.

     

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/4/saturday-april-07th-2018-swinburne-island-seals Sun, 08 Apr 2018 00:51:55 GMT
Saturday March 31st 2018, Swinburne Island Seals https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/3/swinburne-seals Saturday March 31st, I went on the American Princess Cruises Seal and Sea Bird watch. Bright sunshine, 45 degrees, light winds and the waters of Lower NY Harbor were calm. We pushed off at noon and made our way to Swinburne Island to catch sight of what’s on and around the island. Its always a nice cruise to the island and we get an intimate look at Coney Island and the lighthouses of Lower NY Harbor. It was a very clear day and there were great views of upper NY Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/3/swinburne-seals Sat, 31 Mar 2018 15:58:00 GMT
First Seal Watch on the AP with GW https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/3/first-seal-watch Saturday March 24th was the start of the 2018 season on the American Princess with Gotham Whale with the first Seal and Sea Bird cruise- it was a good one.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/3/first-seal-watch Sat, 24 Mar 2018 13:48:00 GMT
Washed up deceased humpback on Breezy Point. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/2/washed-up-deceased-humpback-on-breezy-point I received these photos a day before this post on 2-12-18. They were sent to me by the first person on the scene Dana Filipini and all photo credit goes to Dana.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/2/washed-up-deceased-humpback-on-breezy-point Tue, 13 Feb 2018 13:26:06 GMT
Oil and Water dont mix - The Risks From Offshore Oil Drilling Event https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/2/the-risks-from-offshore-oil-drilling-event Ever hear of the old saying "oil and water don't mix"? Well, it's true! And if this goes through and when (not if) there is an Oil Spill...our coastal waters will be destroyed!

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/2/the-risks-from-offshore-oil-drilling-event Thu, 08 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT
RIP #NYC0056 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/1/rip-nyc0056 In early January 2018, we lost another humpback whale that we know! The whale is documented as #NYC0056 in the NYC Humpback Whale Catalog maintained by Gotham Whale. #56 washed up on the Virginia shore on 1-7-18 and the necropsy was performed by Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program, overseen by NOAA Fisheries. They estimated the whale to be a juvenile around 5 years old and 30ft in length. RIP #NYC0056!

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. 

NOT MY PHOTO! “Photo credit Helen Belencan" Here are photos from an encounter with #NYC0056 as seen from the deck of the American Princess with Gotham Whale off Rockaway NY.

               

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2018/1/rip-nyc0056 Tue, 30 Jan 2018 16:52:28 GMT
Necropsy of the East Atlantic Beach - West Long Beach Humpback. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/12/necropsy-of-the-long-beach-humpback These photos are of a Necropsy - an autopsy of a Humpback Whale. They are not for the faint of heart.

 

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/12/necropsy-of-the-long-beach-humpback Wed, 27 Dec 2017 19:00:55 GMT
Beached Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/12/beached-whale  

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. 

Contact info [email protected] or follow me on TWITTER FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM

 

     

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/12/beached-whale Tue, 26 Dec 2017 13:56:44 GMT
Whales Playing https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/12/whales-playing November 2017: I went out the SHIP OF FOOLS and had a very cool experience with two Humpback Whales off Atlantic Beach and Rockaway.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/12/whales-playing Wed, 20 Dec 2017 16:05:10 GMT
NYC0071 Second Rescue Effort by CCS, USCG and Gotham Whale. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/12/nyc0071-second-rescue-effort-by-ccs-and-uscg December 2nd is my last whale watching for the 2017 season on the SHIP OF FOOLS. It’s not my choice- my boat needs to be out of the water on November 30th, but something

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/12/nyc0071-second-rescue-effort-by-ccs-and-uscg Sat, 02 Dec 2017 21:14:00 GMT
Reynolds Channel Whale Event/Incident Action Plan https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/reynolds-channel-whale-event/incident-action-plan Reynolds Channel Whale Event/Incident Action Plan.

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! 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/reynolds-channel-whale-event/incident-action-plan Sat, 18 Nov 2017 23:08:21 GMT
Reynolds the Humpback Whale situation. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/reynolds-the-humpback-whale-situation Reynolds the Humpback Whale situation:  

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/reynolds-the-humpback-whale-situation Fri, 17 Nov 2017 14:19:41 GMT
"Operation Reynolds" Trying to help save Reynolds the Humpback In Reynolds Channel https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/-operation-reynolds-trying-to-help-save-a-humpback-in-reynolds-channel I am no whale expert. I have more knowledge than some and much less knowledge than others. I also am not a writer. Read on...you have been warned. Here is my facebook, twitter and Instagram if you want to follow.

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. 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/-operation-reynolds-trying-to-help-save-a-humpback-in-reynolds-channel Thu, 16 Nov 2017 23:21:55 GMT
Rescue effort for Humpback Whale NYC0071 from CCS and USCG off Long Beach, NY. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/rescue-effort-for-humpback-whale-nyc0071-from-ccs-and-uscg-off-long-beach-ny On Sunday November 12th, 2017, the Marine Animal Entanglement Response team (MAER) from the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) was off the Long Island Coast, specifically Lido West and Long Beach this weekend and here’s why.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/rescue-effort-for-humpback-whale-nyc0071-from-ccs-and-uscg-off-long-beach-ny Mon, 13 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT
Dolphins at sunset and 2 Finback Whales. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/dolphins-at-sunset-and-2-fin-back-whales I got home a little late to go out on a Whale Watch but with just 30 days left in my whale watching season, every day counts. I must go out. I was on the boat ready to push off and a friend Andrea walks over. I said, jump on, let’s go on a whale watch and then there were two!

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/11/dolphins-at-sunset-and-2-fin-back-whales Thu, 02 Nov 2017 02:03:12 GMT
An early morning family whale watch on the SHIP OF FOOLS. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/10/an-early-morning-family-whale-watch-on-the-ship-of-fools Sunday, October 22nd, my sisters wanted to do a whale watch and what a perfect day for it! Bright sunshine, 75 degrees, very light winds and ocean conditions were flat and glassy.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/10/an-early-morning-family-whale-watch-on-the-ship-of-fools Sun, 22 Oct 2017 11:08:00 GMT
5 Humpbacks and 70 Dolphin https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/10/5-humpbacks-and-70-dolphin Some of the best days I have had photographing Humpbacks here in the Western NY Bight  as Gotham Whale's photographer have been on those days where it's dark, grey and foggy. So, when conditions get like this I get my gear ready for a good day.

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.

Great day on the AP, 5 humpback whales and 70 Dolphin.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/10/5-humpbacks-and-70-dolphin Sun, 15 Oct 2017 02:56:14 GMT
Common and Bottlenose along with #NYC0058 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/10/common-and-bottlenose-along-with-nyc0058 I love bringing people in on one of the best kept secrets of NYC - the fact that there is an actual real deal 95 foot Whale Watching boat in NYC! The boat is called the American Princess and it departs with Gotham Whale, its research arm from Riis Landing, Queens. I can't stress this enough...get on that boat and see this stuff for yourself. You will not be disappointed, even if you do not see a whale or a dolphin, the four hour ride alone is worth the price of fare charged! Now back to the blog...

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

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/10/common-and-bottlenose-along-with-nyc0058 Sun, 08 Oct 2017 22:26:00 GMT
#NYC0060, 80-100 Dolphins and Gotham Whale researchers out on the water. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/-nyc0060-80-100-dolphins-and-gotham-whale-researchers-out-on-the-water A great day on the American Princess with Gotham Whale!

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/-nyc0060-80-100-dolphins-and-gotham-whale-researchers-out-on-the-water Sat, 30 Sep 2017 01:56:42 GMT
Pernod-Ricard's Dolphin Adventure on The American Princess with the ABSOLUT. brand https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/pernod-ricards-dolphin-adventure-on-the-american-princess-with-the-absolut-brand Thanks to William Doyle​ and Lowell Supran from Pernod-Ricard, representing the ABSOLUT. brand distributed by Southern Wine and Spirits, for chartering the American Princess Cruises​ for a Whale and Dolphin adventure. It was great to see some old friends and try some new ABSOLUT. products.
No whales today, the Atlantic Menhaden, aka Bunker, were hard to find, but we did met up with about 100 Inshore Bottlenose Dolphin and they did give us a show! They were all over our large boat wake and some came close to the boat. The body color of these dolphins ranged from very light to dark and in the pods were very small baby dolphins, or calves, the whole pod was very playful. As Inshore Bottlenose Dolphin encounters go, this was probably the best all year!
Thanks for the invite ABSOLUT.

Cheers...

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/pernod-ricards-dolphin-adventure-on-the-american-princess-with-the-absolut-brand Tue, 26 Sep 2017 11:17:00 GMT
Seasickness is preventable. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/seasickness-is-preventable SEASICKNESS!!

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/seasickness-is-preventable Sun, 24 Sep 2017 13:16:51 GMT
The most important fish in the sea. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/the-most-important-fish-in-the-sea READ THIS, IT IS IMPORTANT!

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!

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/the-most-important-fish-in-the-sea Mon, 11 Sep 2017 13:49:20 GMT
Bottlenose Dolphins on the CRESLI Great South Channel trip https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/bottlenose-dolphins Sunday September 10, 2017 on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. No humpbacks on the run today but tons of bunker on the surface and we did meet up with some Inshore Bottlenose Dolphins.

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.     

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/bottlenose-dolphins Mon, 11 Sep 2017 00:32:54 GMT
30 Dolphins and Kristi's Birthday https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/30-dolphins-and-kristis-birtday Cold, windy and a very large East wind chop was on tap for today but the American Princess goes out because it’s what it does! Capt. Frank at the helm was ready for the challenge of finding whales and dolphins for the crowd. Not a large crowd, but it didn’t matter because they were into what the day could bring. There was a group on board celebrating a birthday for an old friend and research associate of Gotham Whale and the American Princess, Kristi aka “the Dolphin whisperer.” A nice rowdy bunch of whale and dolphin lovers who, if we didn’t see what we came for, were just enjoying the cold air, cold beer and company of friends in pursuit of seeing Dolphins!!!!

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/9/30-dolphins-and-kristis-birtday Sun, 03 Sep 2017 00:07:43 GMT
JERRY IS BACK! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/jerry-is-back Went out late in the day looking for Humpbacks, Dolphin or anything that’s out there. Conditions were perfect! Light winds, no ground swell and near glass to a foot chop on the sea. I was on the SHIP OF FOOLS but did see the American Princess on her way in.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/jerry-is-back Sat, 26 Aug 2017 13:12:37 GMT
Yellowfin Tuna on the CRESLI Great South Channel Trip https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/yellowfin-tuna-on-the-cresli-great-south-channel-trip 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 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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/yellowfin-tuna-on-the-cresli-great-south-channel-trip Mon, 14 Aug 2017 14:33:00 GMT
Common Dolphin on the CRESLI Great South Channel Trip https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/common-dolphin Common Dolphin, my favorite Dolphin so far! I Love seeing these mammals out in the ocean. I have seen them here in NYC waters from time to time and they are so much fun to be around.

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…

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/common-dolphin Mon, 14 Aug 2017 11:36:00 GMT
RISSO'S DOLPHINS! On the CRESLI Great South Channel Trip https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/rissos-dolphins I had the pleasure of going out on one of the CRESLI bi-yearly trips run by Artie Kopelman to the Great South Channel, August 13th to the 15th. GSC is a deep channel at the southern end of the Gulf of Maine. GSC’s location is between Georges Bank, Nantucket Shoals and where we went was off the shores of Chatham, Massachusetts. It’s a major feeding area for many marine mammals, fish, shark and sea birds. It's an exciting adventure for me because I never travel outside of the NY Bight to see humpbacks and I mostly stay in the sights of NYC.

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/rissos-dolphins Mon, 14 Aug 2017 11:36:00 GMT
Tuesday August 9th. A small Dolphin pod and 2 humpbacks way off. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/tuesday-august-9th-a-small-dolphin-pod-and-2-humpbacks-way-off Tuesday August 9th on the “SHIP OF FOOLS”. Another perfect summer day on the water, 2-3+ ocean swell, light offshore winds, warm water and broken clouds.

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/tuesday-august-9th-a-small-dolphin-pod-and-2-humpbacks-way-off Wed, 09 Aug 2017 11:33:58 GMT
Sunday August 6th a Humpback in Ambrose. NYC0061 aka New Jersey or Jersey. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/sunday-august-6th-a-humpback-in-ambrose Sunday August 6, and it was slated by the weather people to be a top ten weather day of the year, well they failed with that forecast! But it was one hell of a whale watching day. The conditions were cloudy, cool, ZERO Ocean swell, 1 foot wind chop, the wind was gusty out of the SW and the water was still murky from the rain yesterday.

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/sunday-august-6th-a-humpback-in-ambrose Mon, 07 Aug 2017 01:20:36 GMT
Saturday Aug 5th Whale Watching on the AP with GW. 1 Humpback NYC0060. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/saturday-aug-5th-whale-watching-on-the-ap-with-gw-1-humpback-nyc0060 Saturday August 5th on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. A nice day to be out on a whale watch in NYC with an afternoon breeze out of the west, waves 1-3ft, water temp 75. The water was a little murky (its been beautiful all year) but It rained heavy in the overnight into the morning and it’s a full moon so its pull on the ocean increases and the tides were ripping! The sky was dark and cloudy at the start but then cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/8/saturday-aug-5th-whale-watching-on-the-ap-with-gw-1-humpback-nyc0060 Sun, 06 Aug 2017 12:55:50 GMT
Finback Whale in NYC...NOW that's nuts! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/finback-whale-thats-nuts Sunday July 30th on the “SHIP OF FOOLS”. A perfect summer day to be on the water, 1-3ft ocean, long period swell, light offshore winds, warm water and bright sunshine. Boy, did the Marine Weather forecasters get this weekend prediction horribly wrong for the waters of NYC! They predicted gale force winds and 4-8 ft swells and it turned out to be perfect conditions for a whale watch.

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])

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/finback-whale-thats-nuts Sun, 30 Jul 2017 23:06:07 GMT
Whales, Cownose Rays and Dolphins in the Western Bight https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/whales-cownose-rays-and-dolphins-in-the-western-bight Saturday July 15th 2017. Went out on the AP with GW. I haven’t been on the water since last Sunday’s GW-AP whale watch and whales have not been around for a few weeks. The Dolphins have been around and they have picked up the slack in the whales' absence here in the Bight. Over all, the summer has been great so far for sightings of both whales and dolphins and it's just getting started.

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! 

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/whales-cownose-rays-and-dolphins-in-the-western-bight Tue, 18 Jul 2017 00:13:03 GMT
Bottlenose Dolphins with small calves in the Pods off of Coney and Breezy. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/bottlenose-dolphins-with-small-calves-in-the-pods-off-of-coney-and-breezy Sunday July 9th 2017. Days like today on the water are few and far between, a 2ft ocean swell, light variable winds, Water temp at 73, Air temp 75. The wind did pick up at the end but an overall beautiful day for a Whale and Dolphin adventure.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/bottlenose-dolphins-with-small-calves-in-the-pods-off-of-coney-and-breezy Mon, 10 Jul 2017 01:25:43 GMT
Friday July 7th 2017 Lots of rain and Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/friday-july-7th-2017-lots-of-rain-and-dolphins Its Friday July 7th 2017, I am driving through deep puddles, some resembling ponds or lakes with cars actually stuck in them. I think “is this boat going out in this weather?” As I get to the parking lot and drive through the deepest puddle yet I see the AP. There are a good amount of people on the boat and all is ready to go. So the answer to that question is YES…Rain (even heavy rain) is not holding back the American Princess Whale and Dolphin adventure cruise!

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!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/friday-july-7th-2017-lots-of-rain-and-dolphins Sat, 08 Jul 2017 15:46:36 GMT
SHARK! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/shark The Ocean is a big place with many big things in it. You never know what's swimming with you until you see it or it sees you. Chances are "IT" knows you are there before you know "IT'S" there.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/shark Thu, 06 Jul 2017 12:55:33 GMT
Sunday July 02 2017. Dolphins, Atantic Sturgeon and Giant Fluke. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/sunday-july-02-2017-dolphins-atantic-sturgeon-and-giant-fluke After a week and a half of heavy storms, windy conditions and large choppy seas…we sail, Ocean bound! Praise be to Nero's Neptune the American Princess sails ocean bound at 1pm and the seas are just perfect! Light winds, a small swell and very clear Caribbean green waters.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/sunday-july-02-2017-dolphins-atantic-sturgeon-and-giant-fluke Tue, 04 Jul 2017 14:37:09 GMT
Saturday July 01. Dolphins in Raritan Bay. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/saturday-july-01-dolphins-in-raritan-bay We went out of Breezy and headed south. The ocean was wind swept and shelter from the swells was in Raritan bay off of Sandy. That’s where whales were seen last and the dolphin pod from the day before were there. The temp was chilly, like 60 degrees on the boat with the wind over the water. As soon as we got close to Sandy Hook the wind was off the land and it was in the low 80’s at that spot!

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/saturday-july-01-dolphins-in-raritan-bay Sun, 02 Jul 2017 15:16:32 GMT
Friday June 30th. Dolphins, Big ones and small ones. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/friday-june-30th-dolphins-big-ones-and-small-ones Friday, June 30th. It's been a Dolphin kind of week out here in the NY Bight and it was cuteness overload on the American Princess with Gotham Whale.
We had a great day with a small pod of very friendly Dolphins! At times they were very close to the boat (their choice) and in the pod were many baby dolphins, or calves.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/7/friday-june-30th-dolphins-big-ones-and-small-ones Sun, 02 Jul 2017 00:56:34 GMT
The Great Container Ship Race! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/the-great-container-ship-race Wednesday June 28th we witnessed the great container ship race between the YM Unicorn and the Zim San Francisco in Ambrose Channel on the approach to NY Harbor. It was a close one but in the end the favorite "Zim San Francisco" pulled it out.

 

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/the-great-container-ship-race Thu, 29 Jun 2017 14:22:50 GMT
June 23rd, 2017. PIX11 Whale Watch https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/june-23rd-2017-pix11-whale-watch Friday June 23th 2017. Wave Heights – 1-4ft, Water Temp - 68, Wind – South - SE, Speed – light to 35mph in passing front, Air Temp 69, Cloud Cover – heavy with peaks of sun towards the end.

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.

 

NEW YORK - September 2016. Humpback Whale Lungefeeding off of the Long Beach Boardwalk

 

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/june-23rd-2017-pix11-whale-watch Sat, 24 Jun 2017 13:53:41 GMT
RIP Humpback Whale #NYC0044 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/rip-humpback-whale-nyc0044 This is sad news.

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/rip-humpback-whale-nyc0044 Fri, 23 Jun 2017 12:49:39 GMT
Tuesday April 04, 2017 Beached Dead Humpback Whale on a Rockaway Beach https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/2017-04-04-beached-dead-whale-on-a-rockaway-beach Tuesday April 4th the Rockaway Peninsula had a Juvenile Male Humpback Whale carcass wash up on Beach 117th. The cause of death was a ship strike. As sad as this event was it provided me an opportunity to document a Humpback Whale up-close and personal.
 
First thing I did was look at the tubercles or hair follicles on this whale. HAIR ON A WHALE…YUP! The bumps on the head and the pectoral fins of a humpback whale are hair follicles. These bumps are called “tubercles,” and contain one hair follicle each, connected to a set of sensitive nerves. I thought the hairs would feel more like a cat's whisker or a bristle but it didn't! It was soft and was greyish white, just like a human hair but maybe just a little thicker. 
Some think that tubercles serve as a sensory organ for the whale. It is thought that the single hair in each tubercle is used to detect temperature change in the water, the speed of the whale. It may even help to detect the presence of prey in the whale’s “blind spots.”
Along with the idea that these tubercles serve a sensory purpose, comes an idea that tubercles assist with the hydrodynamics of the animal. It has been shown that these bumps increase lift and decrease drag in the water. YES, just like the dimples on a Golf Ball create a turbulent layer around the surface of the ball. Which actually makes it slide through the air more easily, the dimples reduce the drag. The Tubercles essentially do the same thing but in water.
 
 
This Humpback had a run in with an entanglement, you can clearly see the scarring on the Peduncle to the Fluke. Most humpbacks in their life will be entangled in some sort of fishing gear or man made object and for some it's the death of them.
 
All over this Humpback Whale were an excessive amount of Sea Lice. WOW, these things have to be extremely bothersome to Humpback Whales. I think almost all have a few but when a whale gets sick or hurt from a propeller or ship strike these bastards infest the wound to the point of not seeing the wound!
Lots of gooseneck Barnacle that make their home on top of another Barnacle that is only found on Humpback Whales.
 
 
This Humpback Whale was struck by a big ship! As I walked up the first thing that stood out was the skin was missing from a large area and that area it was black and blue. The skin looked like a 1/4-1/2 inch thick black rubber mat and felt like it as well.
 
 
 
I was totally blown away at the amount of "IDIOTS" there are in this world. I walked up to the area where the whale was before it was dragged out and up the beach and a few things jumped out. Selfies and people kicking the whale. The amount of people wanting to take selfies and family photos with a dead whale is disturbing. It's not an everyday occurrence but what holiday do you break out the "little Johnny standing in front of a dead whale photo?" The kicking I don't get and the Park Police and NYPD took care of that quickly. No photos of these idiots!
 
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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/2017-04-04-beached-dead-whale-on-a-rockaway-beach Sun, 18 Jun 2017 23:03:38 GMT
Saturday June 17th, 2017. 30 Dolphins in heavy fog and rain on the AP with GW https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/gotham-whale Saturday June 17th 2017. Wave Heights – 2-5ft, Water Temp - 65, Wind – South - SE, Speed – light, Air Temp 70, Cloud Cover – Rain and Fog at the end

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/gotham-whale Sun, 18 Jun 2017 15:03:21 GMT
Thursday, June 15th 2017. TWO Humpbacks and 50-100 Dolphins on the AP with GW. NYC0042 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/thursday-june-15th-2017-two-humpbacks-and-50-100-dolphins-on-the-ap-with-gw-nyc0042 Thursday June 15th 2017. Wave Heights – 2-3ft, Water Temp - 65, Wind – South - SE, Speed – 10+, Air Temp 70, Cloud Cover – Very light.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) American Princess Breezy Dolphins Gotham Whale Humpback Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/thursday-june-15th-2017-two-humpbacks-and-50-100-dolphins-on-the-ap-with-gw-nyc0042 Sat, 17 Jun 2017 14:51:31 GMT
Half-Step at the 2017 Woodstock Revival https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/half-step-at-the-2017-woodstock-revival Not much more I can say but I love this band (EVERONE KNOWS THIS). I think they are up there with the best of the Dead tribute bands and they are 100% on the top of the list for Long Island bands. Great show as always, the energy flowing from the stage to the crowd and back was powerful! An amp failure cause a mid set break but the band and crowd dealt with it with class and when fixed the band was back to it. No need for a deep concert review here because the photos tell the true story.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/half-step-at-the-2017-woodstock-revival Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:34:30 GMT
Saturday, June 10th 2017. 2 Humpback Whales off Deal NJ on the AP with GW. NYC0057 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/2017-06-10 Saturday June 4th 2017th. Wave Heights – 2-3ft, Water Temp - 63, Wind – South, Speed – 10-20+, Air Temp 80 felt like 60 with wind. Cloud Cover - light.

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.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) American Princess Gotham Whale Humpback Whale NYC0057 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/2017-06-10 Sun, 11 Jun 2017 12:22:54 GMT
Sunday, June 4rd 2017 Three Humpbacks off Sandy Hook, NJ. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/sunday-june-4rd-2017-three-humpbacks-off-sandy-hook-nj Saturday, June 4th 2017th. Wave Heights - 1ft, Water Temp - 61, Wind – South East, Speed – light, Air Temp 60. Cloud Cover – Heavy.

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.

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/sunday-june-4rd-2017-three-humpbacks-off-sandy-hook-nj Mon, 05 Jun 2017 13:37:23 GMT
Saturday, June 3rd 2017 Three Humpbacks off rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/saturday-june-3rd-2017-three-humpbacks-off-rockaway Saturday June 3rd 2017th. Wave Heights - 1-2ft, Water Temp - 60, Wind – North-West, Speed – 12-20 mph, Air Temp 74. Cloud Cover – Moderate. Water was a beautiful Light green and very clear!

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!!!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) American Princess Gotham Whale Humpback Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/6/saturday-june-3rd-2017-three-humpbacks-off-rockaway Sun, 04 Jun 2017 23:28:04 GMT
Sunday, May 28th 2017. Whale Watch on the American Pincess with Gotham Whale - 4 Whales. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/5/sunday-may-28th-2017-whale-watch-on-the-american-pincess-with-gotham-whale---4-whale Sunday, May 28th. Wave Heights - 1-2ft, Water Temp - 57, Wind - East South East, Speed – 9-16mph, Air Temp 64. Cloud Cover - Moderate to heavy. Whales seen – FOUR 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!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) American Princess Gotham Whale Humpback Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/5/sunday-may-28th-2017-whale-watch-on-the-american-pincess-with-gotham-whale---4-whale Tue, 30 May 2017 11:39:16 GMT
Saturday May, 27th 2017 Whale Watch on the AP with GW. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/5/saturday-27th-2017-whale-watch-on-the-ap-with-gw Whale Watch on the American Princess with Gotham Whale Saturday May, 27th 2017.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/5/saturday-27th-2017-whale-watch-on-the-ap-with-gw Sun, 28 May 2017 14:56:31 GMT
Jones Beach Air Show wide shots https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/5/jones-beach-air-show-wide-shots The Jones Beach Bethpage Air Show on the Memorial Day weekend is the official kickoff for Summer here on Long Island. I always go to the practice run on the Friday before the long weekend. Its the same show on Saturday and Sunday but with less crowds, easy parking and quick exit what more could you ask for!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) Air Show Jones Beach https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/5/jones-beach-air-show-wide-shots Sat, 27 May 2017 12:26:06 GMT
Sunday, May 21st 2017 Whale Watch on the AP with Gotham Whale. Meet NYC0056 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/5/sunday-may-21st-2017-whale-watch-on-the-ap-with-gotham-whale-meet-nyc0056 It's Sunday May 21st 2017. I am on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. Conditions are good, seas are running 1ft-2ft, Air temp 65 degrees, Water Temp 55 degrees, winds are 10-20 variable.

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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(Artie Raslich Photography) American Princess Gotham Whale Humpback Whales https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/5/sunday-may-21st-2017-whale-watch-on-the-ap-with-gotham-whale-meet-nyc0056 Thu, 25 May 2017 15:07:10 GMT
Noreaster floods Bay Park Streets https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/1/noreaster-floods-bay-park-streets Bay park at high tide was at 5:11am photos taken at 6am on 1-24-16. Didn't go far because I couldn't, so here is what it looked like from East Blvd and Marjorie lane in Bay Park. It looks like the storm surge was about 3-3 1/2 feet.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2017/1/noreaster-floods-bay-park-streets Fri, 27 Jan 2017 15:49:09 GMT
Jerry the whale is back in town https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/7/jerry-the-whale-is-back-in-town Jerry the whale is back in town and right on time!!! Jerry is the Humpback whale in the iconic Empire State building picture with the Humpback Whale spyhopping in front of it, he or she is kinda famous. It's the 4th year in a row Gotham Whale has seen Jerry and it's always an awesome sight. Jerry's official name is NYC0011 in the Gotham Whale Humpback catalog. Last year he came into the NYC waters on August 1st, this year Jerry came in on July 29th...perfect timing.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/7/jerry-the-whale-is-back-in-town Wed, 29 Jul 2015 13:00:00 GMT
Entangled Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/7/entangled-whale PLEASE SHARE this information with anyone who is on the waters of NYC, Western Nassau and North Jersey.
We have a an entangled Humpback whale in our area. The American Princess Cruises (Capt Tom) with Gotham Whale came across this whale on July 9, 2015. The Humpback is in good health and is thought to be in no immediate danger. It is breathing, swimming, lunge feeding and moving around well and is not in distress. All the authorities were contacted and the Marine Animal Entanglement Response Team is on it. The whale is entangled with a yellow Trap Buoy and yellow flag. We think the rope is attached to its pectoral fin. The Buoy is 20 feet back from its tail and can only be seen when the whale dives.
If you do see this entangled Humpback Whale call the Stranding & Disentanglement Hotline 1-866-755-NOAA (6622).
If you ever see a Humpback whale please keep your distance and follow the Marine Mammal Viewing Guidelines from "Whale SENSE"

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/7/entangled-whale Thu, 09 Jul 2015 13:00:00 GMT
20 Dolphins with Calves off Rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/7/20-dolphins-with-calves-off-rockaway Ran into a small pod of dolphins with calves out of Rockaway. No Humpback Whales today- I think they were there and we just missed seeing them, some days you see 5 some days you see none! Nice day out on the waters with Gotham Whale on the American Princess, 3-4 light winds and the Bunker are balling up big time now.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/7/20-dolphins-with-calves-off-rockaway Wed, 08 Jul 2015 13:00:00 GMT
5 Humpbacks, 30 Dolphins and a Turtle https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/7/5-humpbacks-30-dolphins-and-a-turtle Commence Lunge feeding! NOW it is starting to get interesting here in/on the NYC waters. Today we saw 5 Humpbacks, 30 Dolphins and a Turtle (what kind is unknown). The Bunker are balling up and when this happens, Humpbacks Lunge feed and that’s what whale watching in NY is all about! There were blows in every direction you looked, near and far, all around the American Princess. Seas 3-5ft, light winds and another great day out on the water with Gotham Whale on the American Princess.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/7/5-humpbacks-30-dolphins-and-a-turtle Wed, 01 Jul 2015 13:00:00 GMT
A Humpback in Ambrose https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/a-humpback-in-ambrose Ocean was near flat and light winds, the water has been this tropical Green and clear like Miami waters, it’s nice to see. Bunker is starting to come in now and the waters as of today at Ambrose Channel is 68. Ran into a big Humpback Whale, it did a breach and then the rest was uneventful. It mostly did a few dives and some logging, but I did get a good fluke and both dorsals, so we will have a new Gotham Whale Catalogued Humpback very soon.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/a-humpback-in-ambrose Fri, 26 Jun 2015 13:00:00 GMT
150+ Bottlenose Dolphins and an Unidentified Humpback https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/150-bottlenose-dolphins-and-an-unidentified-humpback Was out on the SHIP OF FOOLS and encountered a massive Bottlenose Dolphin Pod and an unidentified Humpback Whale south of Fort Tilden along with the American Princess. I don't usually go that far west when I am on my boat, but saw the action and the ocean was somewhat calm, so why not! In the Bottlenose Dolphins pods were MANY baby dolphins in the mix. They were feeding on Bunker, jumping and playing. I saw one dolphin calf getting some tough love and got bonked on the head by its mother (I'm guessing). The humpback was lunge feeding (no pictures) on bunker and the dolphins and humpbacks were very tight together. Some threshers were in on the bunker action but if you get a shot of a thresher you really got lucky, they hit so fast and then they are gone. Another great day on the waters of NY!

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(Artie Raslich Photography) bottlenose dolphins jumping https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/150-bottlenose-dolphins-and-an-unidentified-humpback Thu, 25 Jun 2015 13:00:00 GMT
One unidentified Humpback Whale and 200+ Bottlenose Dolphins with many calves. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/one-unidentified-humpback-whale-and-200-bottlenose-dolphins-with-many-calfs Headed down south off Sea Bright NJ. Came upon many small pods of Bottlenose Dolphins with their calves. They were spread out in all directions and were staying around the American Princess. Stayed with them for a while and headed back to the channel to see if we can connect to a Humpback Whale. It's not over until it's over and in the last moment we spotted a Humpback Whale that's been in the area for the past week right off Breezy! We stayed a safe distance away and watched the Humpback for a 1/2 hour and went in. Great day on the American Princess with Gotham Whale, Wave heights 3-5ft, slight chop and 20+mph winds.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/one-unidentified-humpback-whale-and-200-bottlenose-dolphins-with-many-calfs Mon, 22 Jun 2015 13:00:00 GMT
5 Humpback Whales and 150 Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/5-humpback-whales-and-150-dolphins Got a report of a breaching whale off Sea Bright NJ. The American Princess with Gotham Whale went down to check it out. We ran into a Thresher beating up some bunker then headed down off North Jersey. Saw the Humpback breaching, tail slapping and Pectoral fin slapping, commonly referred to as “pec slapping," but didn't meet up because that whale was 2-3 miles away and there were 3 whales right by the boat. We followed the 3 whales for a bit and the whales met up with many little pods of dolphins for a total dolphin count of 150+. As we were going back to the dock we met up with another humpback. a total of 5 Humpback Whales seen out on the NY/NJ waters with Gotham Whale on the American Princess.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/5-humpback-whales-and-150-dolphins Fri, 19 Jun 2015 13:00:00 GMT
Two Unidentified Humpback Whales off Atlantic Beach NY https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/two-unidentified-humpback-whales-off-atlantic-beach-ny Today we had our first Humpback Whale sighting this year on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. We encountered two unidentified Humpbacks and saw another Humpback Blow off shore a few times but didn't investigate. One Humpback didn't want anything to do with the boat, very unpredictable and was staying down a long time between breaths so we left it alone. The other Humpback was in like a semi-logging mode, woke up and came very close to the boat, giving everyone on the AP an up-close Humpback whale encounter.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/two-unidentified-humpback-whales-off-atlantic-beach-ny Sun, 14 Jun 2015 13:00:00 GMT
Ocean Sunfish https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/ocean-sunfish Out of Rockaway we came across an Ocean Sunfish or a common Mola, Mola Mola. It is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It has an average adult weight of 2,200 lb. It’s not uncommon to see them out on trips here sunning themselves. Most are mistaken for sharks because they stick one fin out and it somewhat looks like a shark Finning. This Ocean Sunfish looks to have been struck by a ship or boat but is shaking off its injuries and seems to be doing well. Out with Gotham Whale on the American Princess.

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2015/6/ocean-sunfish Fri, 05 Jun 2015 13:00:00 GMT
NYC0016 and NYC0017 synchronized flippering off LB and RB https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/10/nyc0016-and-nyc0017-synchronized-flippering-off-lb-and-rb We on the American Princess with Gotham Whale and have been seeing these two new whales many times since Sept 28th (to 10/18/14) off Western Nassau and Rockaway Beach. These two Humpback Whales tend to stay together or don't go too far from each other, like a mile or two. When you see one, look around and off in the distance you will see the other's blow.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/10/nyc0016-and-nyc0017-synchronized-flippering-off-lb-and-rb Sat, 18 Oct 2014 13:00:00 GMT
Common Dolphins https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/10/common-dolphins Out on the American Princess with Gotham Whale and came upon the recent visitors to Nassau and NYC - Common Dolphins. I love seeing these dolphins, they go out of their way to make everyone on the boat smile. There were 65-year-old salty dogs on the boat and they were acting like kids when these dolphins came around.

No Whales (we saw them but could not connect) - but I am ok with that.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/10/common-dolphins Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:00:00 GMT
Dolphins and a Robert Moses Whale off Rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/10/dolphins-and-a-robert-moses-whale-off-rockaway What a day out on the American Princess with Gotham Whale. If Dolphins are your thing - this was your day! A pod of Common Dolphins surrounded the boat and gave us all a good show. Adults, Babies and Juveniles were playing, jumping and showing off to the AP.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/10/dolphins-and-a-robert-moses-whale-off-rockaway Sun, 12 Oct 2014 13:00:00 GMT
Two new Unidentified whales to NYC off Rockaway Beach https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/10/two-new-unidentified-whales-to-nyc-off-rockaway-beach Oct 3, 2014 - Went out on the SHIP OF FOOLS and ran into the two new unidentified whales to NYC/Nassau County that were seen the last trip out. The ocean was 4ft-6ft and at times it was a challenge, not for the boat...for me! Spent 6 hours out on the ocean, saw the big whale 1 hour into the watch, it fluked and did a few blows and disappeared into the sun's reflection on the ocean. I knew they were there and it was just a matter of time before we would meet up again and that was 3 hours later. First, I ran into the white tail with Orca teeth marks, he was Bubble Net feeding, or I think he was practicing Bubble Netting? Then off in the distance, big splashes, like scary big splashes- like I'm gonna need a bigger boat splashes!!! It was the bigger whale and it was doing these side-tail slap/jumps, white water everywhere and I got not one shot of that on film! the big one was coming in and the small one was going out and they both met up and moved out to sea. I had to go in, too much sun and waves for me today but it’s always an adventure seeing these gigantic Whales.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/10/two-new-unidentified-whales-to-nyc-off-rockaway-beach Fri, 03 Oct 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0008 and NYC0016 Humpback Whales in NYC-LI. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0008-and-nyc0016-humpback-whales-in-nyc-li The Humpback Whale migration might be starting to show with new whales to the Western NY/NJ Bight Nassau and NYC!

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)

 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0008-and-nyc0016-humpback-whales-in-nyc-li Sun, 28 Sep 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0011 Humpback Whale (Jerry) and NYC0015 Humpback Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0011-humpback-whale-jerry-and-nyc0015-humpback-whale Was out on the American Princess with Gotham Whale and on the SHIP OF FOOLS today Whale Watching. What a day on the water today- a light wind and a flat ocean equals perfect whale watching conditions. The ocean is starting to come alive; this is the best time of year on the south shore of Long Island. Today we came upon two whales, NYC0015 the calf or sub-adult and NYC0011 AKA "JERRY". Both whales were very relaxed today, not even feeding. NYC0015 (AKA Sparkles) was in a food coma and took advantage of the flat seas and no chop by logging (sleeping on the surface not moving) for hours! We left NYC0015 (Sparkles) logging and went onto see Jerry but he was in the same mood, moving very slow, maybe sleeping also? You can't control the whales, so we saw two sleeping whales, on a whale watching boat that would equate to a success. BUT I went back out on the SHIP OF FOOLS after the American Princess, I had a feeling the whales were going to start feeding during dusk? I meet up with NYC0015 quite quickly and it was out of logging mode but not feeding. I followed for a good hour and a half and turned and went back in. The Bunker was everywhere, and the Gorilla Blues were on the attack, great sight to see! Also saw a Sunfish, a very large shark and a very interesting Atlantic Needlefish that skimmed across the top of the water. Good day had by all!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0011-humpback-whale-jerry-and-nyc0015-humpback-whale Fri, 12 Sep 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0012 Humpback Whale last year 2013 compared to this year 2014 https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0012-humpback-whale-last-year-2013-compared-to-this-year-2014 2013 - Last year, Whale NYC0012 (Gotham Whale Catalog) had a few injuries on him. One - triangle cut on the top right fluke. Two - a big deep gash on his rounded projection near tip of lower jaw that was healing. NYC0012 whale was first seen (by my account) late September 2013 in Rockaway and was in the area until mid-October 2013.

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!

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0012-humpback-whale-last-year-2013-compared-to-this-year-2014 Wed, 10 Sep 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0011 Humpback Whale (Jerry) Lunge feeding off Rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0011-humpback-whale-jerry-lunge-feeding-off-rockaway Out on the American Princess with Gotham Whale looking for Humpbacks. Spoke with Captain Tom before we set out to look for Whales. I told him I was out on my boat (SHIP OF FOOLS) a few times in the past week and saw whales every day in a certain area. He says I am going there but if we don't see whales he says, "I will be upset" and gives me a look - you know that look. We go on our way, an hour goes by, I look at Capt., shrugged my shoulders, and then almost got that look. Capt. turns, grabs the microphone and declared - We have a Whale folks, get your cameras ready. Fhewwww that was close! and we were on a whale!

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!

JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich) JERRY THE WAHLEJERRY THE WAHLENEW YORK - SEPTEMBER: Jerry the Humpback whale Lunge feeds, of NYC's Rockaway Peninsula. eating up as much Bunker fish it can before migrating south to warmer waters. September 6, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich)

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0011-humpback-whale-jerry-lunge-feeding-off-rockaway Fri, 05 Sep 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0015 Humpback Whale off Rockaway on the SHIP OF FOOLS https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0015-humpback-whale-off-rockaway-on-the-ship-of-fools Ran into Gotham Whale Cataloged NYC0015 on September 4th, 2014. NYC0015 is a young whale that has been seen in the area off Rockaway and Sandy Hook with larger Whales NYC0014 and NYC0004. He was on his own today and this day he was in a lunge feeding mood. He came to the boat twice, boat was off, went under the boat and went back to feeding.

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)

NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images) NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NYC0015 of offRockaway Beach N.Y.NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER : Humpback whale lunge feeding off NYC's Rockaway Peninsula with Rockaway Beach in the background September 4, 2014 in NEW YORK. (Photo by Artie Raslich/Getty Images)

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0015-humpback-whale-off-rockaway-on-the-ship-of-fools Thu, 04 Sep 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0011 Jerry off Rockaway https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0011-jerry-off-rockaway It is always nice to see a whale you recognize - especially Jerry! Mellow day or time of day for him, he was feeding but it was all below surface. I was with him for an hour or so and l went in. No spectacular acrobatics on this album but a very nice freedom tower shot.

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/9/nyc0011-jerry-off-rockaway Wed, 03 Sep 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0012 Humpback Whale off East Rockaway Inlet. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0012-humpback-whale-off-east-rockaway-inlet Out on the SHIP OF FOOLS and came upon Gotham Whale's cataloged Humpback Whale Number NYC0012. NYC12 has been in the shadows of the NYC skyline since August 15th, 2014. Well that is the day we spotted NYC12 in NYC waters on the American Princess with Gotham Whale, so I am going with that. NYC12 has been seen 5-6 times since August 15 including today, August 31st. Waves were up to a 4-foot chop not good conditions for watching a humpback feed, while holding a camera, trying to get a clean photo and navigate a 26-foot boat.

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. 

 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0012-humpback-whale-off-east-rockaway-inlet Sun, 31 Aug 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0015 and NYC004 Humpback Whales off Long Beach and Far Rockaway. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0015-and-nyc004-humpback-whales-off-long-beach-and-far-rockaway Great day, water was calm, and the bait fish were closer to the shore and in massive bait balls everywhere! We witnessed Humpback Whales Lunge and surface feeding along with a few well-choreographed tandem breaches which were awesome to see. We ran across two whales we know as NYC0004 (BIG Fluke) and NYC0015 the Calf (small Fluke with cut) off Far Rockaway and Silver Point NY. Whales teach their young all they need to survive and #04 was teaching #15 this day. Every time I have seen #15 it was with a whale cataloged with GW as NYC0014. But today #04 was giving #15 a life lesson or two. There were other whales in the area, NYC0014 may have one of them but was not identified.

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.

 

2014_08_292014_08_29Pair of Humpback Whales off of Far Rockaway and Long Beach NY

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0015-and-nyc004-humpback-whales-off-long-beach-and-far-rockaway Fri, 29 Aug 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0004 Humpback Whales off Sandy Hook in both Ambrose and Sandy Hook channels https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0004-humpback-whales-off-sandy-hook-in-both-ambrose-and-sandy-hook-channels 4 Humpback whales and Pod of Dolphins today. We were following NYC0004 and its personality is to be everywhere you think it’s not. He is in the front, then back, then to the side, he then changes directions and is 6 feet from the front of the boat then he is 1000 feet in another direction. We did see many whale's blows, breaching and lunge feeding but they were off in the distance. I was trying out different settings and equipment today, photos are fair - I have shot better and way worse...they are ok 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0004-humpback-whales-off-sandy-hook-in-both-ambrose-and-sandy-hook-channels Wed, 27 Aug 2014 12:04:00 GMT
NYC0012 Humpback Whale off Rockaway Peninsula and Atlantic Beach https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0012-humpback-whale-off-rockaway-peninsula-and-atlantic-beach  

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...

       

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0012-humpback-whale-off-rockaway-peninsula-and-atlantic-beach Fri, 22 Aug 2014 04:42:00 GMT
NYC0004 Fluke shots off Rockaway on the American Princess with Gotham Whale https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0004-fluke-shots-off-rockaway-on-the-american-princess-with-gotham-whale We met up with a Humpback Whale Gotham Whale has cataloged as NYC0004 both Wednesday (8-20) and Thursday (8-21) this week on the American Princess. Today 8-21-14 we saw whale #04 early like 20 minutes into the Whale Watch and had a full 2 1/2 hours with him NYC0004! He was surface feeding sending many schools of Bunker into freak-out mode which is an amazing sight! No lunge feeding or breaches but NYC0004 was all about showing its Fluke and did a few pectoral waves. The big event was NYC0004 did awesome surface Barrel roll 20 feet in front of the boat, which was caught by CBS Nightly news (who was on the boat) and will air Saturday 8-23-14 at 6pm-ish. Photos ©Artie Raslich/Gotham Whale -

CBS LINK http://www.cbsnews.com/news/theres-a-new-tourist-attraction-in-nyc-whales/

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0004-fluke-shots-off-rockaway-on-the-american-princess-with-gotham-whale Thu, 21 Aug 2014 04:42:00 GMT
NYC0004 Fluke Shots https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0004-fluke-shots We (Gotham Whale on the American Princess) were straight off the Verrazano bridge about 12 miles where the water turns from a plankton filled green/brown to an amazing deep blue to that Caribbean green that is so awesome to see. We came upon a whale Gotham Whale has cataloged as NYC0004. We almost passed him but someone in the back of the American Princess saw its spout. The whale must have been taking a break from feeding, maybe trying to get some shuteye, and went offshore away from the food (Bunker), ships, little boats and basically all the action and traffic. It was in a lazy mood, did a few dives amounting to some good fluke shots and we went our separate ways - to meet up tomorrow 8-21-14. Being out 3 days a week seeing these whales you start to see their personalities, it's a cool thing - IT NEVER GETS OLD! 

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0004-fluke-shots Wed, 20 Aug 2014 04:42:00 GMT
NYC0012 Humpback Whale Back in town https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0012-humpback-whale-back-in-town This is very interesting and exciting news on a Humpback Whale seen in NYC waters last year.

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.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0012-humpback-whale-back-in-town Fri, 15 Aug 2014 04:42:00 GMT
NYC0011 (Jerry the Whale) off Rockaway N.Y. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0011-jerry-the-whale-off-rockaway-n-y Went Whale Watching today (on Jerry's Garcia's Birthday) and there's a Whale I call Jerry. Last time I saw Jerry (the Whale) was Oct 5th, 2013. I always wonder when and if I will see Jerry the Whale again. We see no whales all day, Last 20-30 minutes of the Whale watch - WE SEE JERRY off in the distance breaching, pectoral fin slapping, splashing and he is going NUTS! Almost positive he just got into town and he was very happy to be here! Welcome back Jerry, perfect day to show up. I have been seeing him off the waters off Rockaway and Long Beach for about 4 years now, good to see him.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/8/nyc0011-jerry-the-whale-off-rockaway-n-y Fri, 01 Aug 2014 04:42:00 GMT
NYC0010 Humpback Whale Watching in the NY Bight. https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/7/nyc0010-humpback-whale-watching-in-the-ny-bight Bright sunny day, ocean surface was glassy with 2-4-foot swells. 60+ people out with Gotham Whale on the American Princess Whale and Dolphin tour. Came upon a very active Humpback feeding doing some incredible lunges. Dolphin were everywhere grabbing up as much Bunker they can get. I saw a few sights I normally do not get a chance to observe. Lots of interaction between the whales and dolphins. The dolphins were all over the whale, on its back, jumping over it and staying very close. A Thresher Shark was getting its share of the bunker bait balls, smacking them with its long tail right on the surface.

Overall great day, 1 Humpback, 100+ Dolphin and a Pesky Thresher Shark…a successful day!

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2014/7/nyc0010-humpback-whale-watching-in-the-ny-bight Thu, 17 Jul 2014 04:42:00 GMT
NYC0012 Humpback Whale stalking me! https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2013/10/humpback-whale-stalking-me These are sent from a very nice person who was out fishing when the whales came by! The Whale was moving very slowly, I am guessing it was sleeping, day dreaming or just goofing off?? It was heading right for me-- I could not motor forward or back, just had to stay in neutral and sit tight. I went to the wheel and sounded the horn a few times. The picture with the flipper out of the water was when the whale looked like it was going to bump me. It didn't, it turned very quickly and dove under the boat and popped up 20 yards away. I lost sight of it, but It came back around and went under the boat and shot out of the water off, feet off my bow with a huge lunge feeding move. It towered over me if I only had a wide-angle lens I would have had Nat Geo photos to share. This would be a tall fishing tale, BUT I have the pictures to back it up!!! No, the Whale was not hurt, this was all on the Whale's own terms.

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(Artie Raslich Photography) https://www.artieraslich.com/blog/2013/10/humpback-whale-stalking-me Thu, 03 Oct 2013 04:42:00 GMT