JERRY'S 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!
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