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. 

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. 
 

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.

The sea conditions were very good with light winds around 5 kts, seas around 2 ft, no chop. Bright sunshine, cloud cover 0%, 83 degrees with low humidity, just a perfect day for a whale watch.

We headed out of lower NY Bay past Breezy Point Inlet and came upon a pod of Dolphins. They were feeding on small Bunker bait balls. We usually don’t get to see the Dolphins ripping through the bait balls. I mean – we could actually see the dolphins corralling the Menhaden deep in the water, then running at and through the Bait balls feeding. That was cool.

The dolphins once again brought us to the humpbacks today. The whales and dolphins were in the same area and the whales were feeding also. We came upon the first whale, then there were two, then four. We motored past a lazy whale to meetup with the active whale and it gave us a show. This whale was not shy! He or she liked to get close and had no preference to the front or the back, this whale was everywhere and unpredictable. As always, the AP adheres to Whale watching protocols, the whales and the passengers are always safe. The whale was lunge feeding as we approached but stopped and went into a Pectoral slap session with a few twists and turns. It was nice to see the whale up close and some of those pectoral slaps were very loud.

The whale did many big blows or spouts, it looks like rain on the water’s surface. It also creates a very fine mist and this mist drifts down wind or the boat can drive through the blow. “Sometimes” when a whale takes a breath of air (blow or spout) its exhaled breath can be unbelievably stinky! The smell – think of a covered bucket with Bunker fish in it that sat in the sun, decomposing for a week. Now open that bucket and give it a whiff…THAT’S THE SMELL of whale’s breath. I have been out on my boat and found whales on their breath alone…truth! Good news for us today, the whales blow, or whales’ breath didn’t smell at all. A small kid next to me says “why did I just get rained on?” I said” That’s the whales’ breath, its it blow”. I thought to myself "Man, if that whales breath was bad and I told the kid what it was that was misting on him, he would have freaked Haha"

Whales are in NYC waters get out on the AP and see what I see! 

We charged out of Breezy Point and traversed the ocean until we came upon a small pod of Dolphins which lead us to a very big pod of dolphins, 250+ estimated. The Dolphins were feeding and playing, nothing spectacular but still nice to see. A small group of Dolphins were getting rowdy, calves and moms in the mix causing a commotion splashing and playing. The reason why, they were interacting with a whale we knew was in the area but could not find. The whale we meetup with is known as #NYC0086 in the New York City Humpback Whale Catalog curated by Gotham Whale. I am almost positive our first interaction with #NYC0086 was on July 29^th, 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.  

When we were on NYC0089 we were very close to the Breezy Point Jetty, so it would be a short trip for NYC0089 to get to Lower NY Bay or Harbor, then to Upper NY Bay or Harbor and onwards and upwards to the Hudson River or the North River.

There is so much bait inside the back bays and harbors right now. We assume that's true for the Hudson River as well but do not 100% know that is a fact. From the many reports I have read the whale is feeding and looking healthy. It is relatively safe for the whale to be there; the water is very deep. Boat traffic is the biggest problem for this whale. Ship strikes are one of the major causes for fatalities and injuries for Marine Mammals including the Humpback Whale, so this could be a problem. Marine traffic and seasoned captains know there is a whale in the area, everyone on the water is in the know. There are many eyes on the lookout for this whale, so it should be OK.

We saw NYC0089 before, on June 02, 2018 on the American Princess Cruises Whale Watch. It was healthy and with other whales and dolphins that day. Here is the recap – Artie Raslich Photography | 2018-06-02 5 Humpbacks and 50+ Dolphins off Rockaway . I think I have seen this whale a few other times but cannot confirm. Sometimes you get photos of whales, and because of distance or angles in photos you cannot ID them… hey, it happens.

Well, I hope NYC0089 has fun in the big city seeing the sights. And then gets the hell out of there before Mayor De Blasio slaps him with restrictions or makes him quarantine!

Good luck NYC0089, see you soon!

We (Gotham Whale and the American Princess) came across our second entangled whale in a week! The American Princess Cruises all day Seafari was coming to an end when we saw this Humpback Whale roughly a mile off Fort Tilden, Rockaway Beach, NY. There were two other whales in the area and many dolphins all around swimming with these whales.

We came across the entangled humpback, and it immediately did a breach. The whale was swimming and breathing normally. It did not look, sound or act stressed, even though a breach could be a sign of anything good or bad, including stress. The whale then fluked a few times and revealed the entanglement: fishing gear wrapped around its fluke. At that point (3:22pm), the AP stopped and immediately all agencies needing to be contacted were contacted by Captain Frank via phone and radio. All information needed was shared and Capt. Frank did an incredible job as he and Capt. Tom always do!

Once again, in a small way, the AP with GW is helping humpbacks in the Western NY Bight!  I will say this, and it’s my opinion, but I think you will agree: “If it were not for Gotham Whale and American Princess Cruises being out on the water practicing Citizen Science on a constant basis many whales that pass through NYC waters entangled or injured would probably go undetected.” When you hear or read NYC and Humpback Whale, it usually is followed by Gotham Whale and American Princess Cruises in the same sentence!

Gotham Whale was created in 2009 and holds the only NYC Humpback Whale Catalog. The NYCHWC has broken the 200 whales documented mark this year. The details of each of the whales in this catalog help scientists (and citizen scientists) in the whale world tremendously.

About Gotham Whale – it is 100% a volunteer-based citizen scientist 503c1 non-profit entity and is funded by donations. If you want to help the whales in NYC – Donate to GW here HELP GOTHAM WHALE HELP NYC WHALES. You can buy Gotham Whale gear and that helps us as well.

As soon as the NARW identification was made, we backed away immediately and left the NARW. NOAA regulations say you need to stay 500 meters away and we did. On exiting, THE CALLS WENT OUT on seeing a NARW! ALL protocols were followed when seeing a NARW. The government agencies were informed: NOAA, USCG, and others. Captains Frank and Tom called Vessel Traffic about the NARW being in the area. All ships in the area were hailed and informed to slow down, including another whale watching boat.

The conditions were a little rocky, especially when in the trough. Looking at photos for details in these conditions is limited. I get home, upload the photos, and start the processing. I notice a rope embedded in the rostrum of the NARW. It looks like the rope is wrapped twice around the top of the mouth and is not wrapped around the whole mouth (my opinion, I am not a NARW expert). I think this whale can filter feed, but I did not get photos of the whole head of the NARW. Photos show the rope being covered by the lower jaw and, this to me, would point to it being able to open its lower jaw to eat. But again, I am NOT an expert. The rope looks to have been there for a while because it's embedded in the top of the head and callosities have totally covered it up except on the sides.

As soon as I saw the rope, I processed the photos and sent them out to all agencies that needed them for IDing, including CCS and MMSC.

I waited a few days before posting the information and when NOAA sent out their bulletin, I waited another day to post my info and photos!

Here is what I know and was told: This NARW has not been matched and is not known to be involved in any ongoing entanglement case. Based on its emaciation and extreme injuries-- look at the giant healing impact bruise or cut on its left side-- this whale is in very bad shape. Look at the entanglement scars, the rope, and injuries-- it likely does not have much longer. It is not likely to be feeding, so it will probably wander and may show up just about anywhere.

We wish this NA Right Whale well; we might see it in the area next week? If we do, we will stay 1500 feet away and call all who need to know that it's still in the area.

A big thank you to the Captains and Crew of American Princess Cruises; a great Seafari adventure was had by all! Try to make it out on the next Seafari on Oct 1^st.

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 17^th and Oct 1^st. 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!

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 21^st and is still in that area on Aug 01^st.

This dolphin is in a very different situation than Reynolds the whale was. Right now (Aug 01, 3pm) the dolphin is in Mill River, not East Rockaway Channel. Mill River is brackish water, meaning the dolphin is swimming in water having more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. Dolphins that are not considered freshwater dolphins may visit or travel through freshwater environments, but they ultimately return back to their saltwater habitat. In this case, to get out to the ocean this dolphin needs to go out one of the two nearest inlets, which are East Rockaway Inlet and Jones Inlet. All the fish (food) dolphins normally eat are in that river and in abundance, so it will not go hungry. The dolphin is not being held down or entangled; it is freely breathing. The water is deep, so it should not get stranded. It looks to be in good health, but I am not a dolphin expert. With all the good mentioned there are a few bad things that make the odds of getting out to the ocean go down: bridges and stress.

Stress – Not good! Not being able to get back to the ocean, that is stressful on its own. Seeing groups of people in kayaks surrounding the dolphin just feet away is not good and is compounding the stress factor for this dolphin. The Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act do not allow unauthorized people to get within 150 feet or 50 yards to view or interact with a wild dolphin. Feeding a dolphin, which was happening when the dolphin was in the East Rockaway boat basin, is illegal. Violations can be prosecuted either civilly or criminally and are punishable by fines of up to $100,000 and/or up to 1 year in jail. YEAH, read that again, these guys are serious about this.

Bridges – There are two bridges the Dolphin must navigate to get to the ER Channel. The LIRR train trestle, then the Atlantic Ave Bridge. The first, the LIRR Trestle, is a very shallow passage for the dolphin. There are rocks placed under the trestle to limit the amount of brackish water that gets out at low tide. The Atlantic Ave Bridge can be navigated by the dolphin at almost any tide.

My opinion, and take it with a grain of salt:
Here’s what needs to happen for this dolphin to reach the ocean. People need to leave it alone. The dolphin needs to get out of the river at a mid to high tide, the more water the better. This week we will have a full moon and heavy rain. The water (rain and tide) at outgoing tide will be rushing the river water out of Mill River to the East Rockaway Channel very fast. This is the time for the dolphin to get out of that river. If this dolphin can not make it out on its own this week coming up, a rescue of some type will have to happen. If a rescue won't/can't be performed and the dolphin can't get out, that dolphin will be there for a very long time. If all else fails, the unfortunate reality is, and it is tough to hear, this dolphin could be euthanized. 

FYI - If you see a dolphin or turtle in distress call NY Marine Rescue Center (NYMRC). The NYMRC has been on site, every day, since day one. They are there to educate people about what is going on and to help keep the public and the dolphin safe. At this point (8/03 3pm) the NYMRC is not performing a rescue or are planning a rescue, but this can change at any moment. NYMRC knows people are passionate about wild animals and dolphins and whales are on top of that list. Please respect what these NYMRC workers are doing, because they know what they are doing! What NYMRC workers do not need is people going off on them demanding "whatever" to be done so the dolphin can get out. Now these people going off are passionate, dolphin loving people with the best intentions for the dolphin. But the NYMRC knows best- let them do their job!

Again, all this is my opinion, agree or disagree but now ya know what I think, and let us hope the dolphin gets out!

Read up on the rescue attempts for Reynolds the whale here:

Reynolds the Humpback Whale situation.

Reynolds Channel Whale Event/Incident Action Plan

"Operation Reynolds" Trying to help save Reynolds the Humpback In Reynolds Channel

UPDATED PHOTOS----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HHere is the outcome for the Dolphin! Very Sad!!!

It started out slow, all eyes on the water. We came upon a school of Spinner Sharks going nuts on a school of bunker. I do not see these sharks very often so when we saw them, I got excited. Grabbed the camera and got a few crappy shots but they show that they are 100% Spinner Sharks. In a good spot for some photos and a boat comes in and runs over the feeding frenzy bait ball and disperses the sharks, so we left. We came up on the first whale and he/she was very hard to spot. The whale was sleeping on the surface, no blows. Only the blow hole and snout were just above the water. We stayed for 15 minutes and left so the whale could get its beauty rest. Quickly we were on the second whale and this whale was awake and doing its thing. The whale watching boat Atlantic Pearl was out with us on this whale and the whale did what they call a “Mugging.” Not a true mugging but it was close. The whale stayed by the boat, very close. It wrapped around the front from left to right watching us the whole way, then dove. Got some great shots and a fluke. We got wind of two whales lunge feeding in the area, so we went over to see the action. We saw the whales, but the show was over, and we had a 35-mile trip home. We hugged the shore on the way home to catch sight of Sharks, Dolphins, Cownose Rays, but nothing.

A school of Spinner sharks and 4 Humpbacks were seen! Great time had by all.

Needing to be said, there is a protocol in watching whales. It's common sense to keep yourself and the whale safe when out whale watching but some lose their minds to get close to a marine mammal. That is not how it works! Click here to read up on how to act and react on a private whale watch.

Great show, these guys and gal get better and better with every show! The sound was perfect! Great time had by all, what a great start to 2020…Happy New Year.

When a Humpback Whale dies and washes up on a beach anywhere up and down the East Coast, there might be a chance that Gotham Whale has a record of sighting/s of that whale. Now let’s be real, there are MANY Humpback Whales out there. What are the chances we have seen and documented the whale that has died, SLIM? But still, there is a chance! When the whale lands on a LI beach the odds go up!

A 28ft dead emaciated female Humpback Whale washed up on a Southampton beach on Nov 14th. After looking at the two posted photos via AMCS's Social Media outlets it was determined that GW has seen this Humpback on a few occasions over the 2019 whale watching season. A number was given to this female Humpback whale, and it is known as #NYC0159, in the New York City Humpback Whale Catalog. #NYC0159 was seen in 2019 on 6/16, 6/20, 6/22, 7/05 and 9/28. 

I remember seeing #NYC0159 for the first time on June 16^th, 2019 off Sandy Hook. I was on the American Princess Cruises Whale and Dolphin Watch and it was a quick encounter. I saw the back of the whale; it was really beat up. It looked like this whale was in a serious entanglement and escaped or was disentangled. It had wounds on its black body, healed white, showing scars everywhere. It was spotted a few times after that on June 20th, 22nd, July 5th and Sept 28th whale watches. I was out on the AP on the July 5th whale watch when we met up with NYC0159 feeding in Raritan Bay going into Sandy Hook Bay right by the Naval Weapons Station Earl. The whale was feeding close to a docked Naval Ship and the whale lunge fed its way around the front by the bulbous bow of that Navy vessel. Naval Weapons Station Earle is a restricted area. The whale can go there but we can’t. While watching #NYC0159 we saw another whale in Raritan Bay and went to take photos of that whale.

The New York City Humpback Whale Catalog team, including Paul Sieswerda – Director of GW has provided the dates we have seen #NYC0159 whale. Celia Ackerman – Naturalist extraordinaire, Danielle Brown - Lead Humpback Whale researcher for Gotham Whale, and myself, identified #NYC0159 via its dorsal fin. YES, we do need the fluke photo for IDing a whale but other markings on the whale’s body and the dorsal fin work well for IDing also. Having them all: fluke, dorsal and body markings, complete the IDing package but not having a fluke is not a deal breaker!

Therefore, Citizen Science is so important to Gotham Whale! We have a program called “Wanted!” You take a photo of a whale off NYC, Long Island and NJ (it’s not just NYC). You go to the website and fill out all the information, it's detailed and all information requested is needed. We take that detailed information and use it for our NYCHW catalog and other uses! It’s all for documenting the whales in the western NY Bight. Read up here – https://gothamwhale.org/citizen-science/

The above is a small part of what we do at Gotham Whale. GW is an all-volunteer non-profit citizen scientist organization running solely on donations and no one gets a “paycheck." To be honest, we do not take in or raise much money. Most of the GW workers are using their own money to get things done. If you’re thinking of donating to a non-profit origination, please think about Gotham Whale in the future or right now by going here and becoming a:

Member https://gothamwhale.org/membership/

Donating https://gothamwhale.org/donations/

Buying gear https://gothamwhale.org/shop/  

#NYC0159, looks like you had a hard life, RIP.

UPDATE Via Photos on the bottom of the page 11-20-19 10:05am.   

UPDATE - I went back and looked at July 5th photos that I didn't process and share because of them being of low quality. I do keep all crappy photos for situations like this! NYC0159 was seen and photographed doing a breach on this day. In the crappy photo, I can make out the markings on the tip of the right Pectoral fin. The same exact markings are on the right pectoral fin of the dead whale that was photographed and shared on social media by AMCS. This is very good information, it shows the whale was active via a breach and was feeding. We could not confirm with 100% acuracy if this was NYC0159 in the breach but with the cross examination of photos it is a match. We were with NYC0159 from 136pm to 217pm on July 5th.