New Jersey Vs Hawaii

Welcome back friends. Thanks for sticking around? Or coming back? Reading my ramblings? I don’t know, one of those things. Anyways, in my last post, I introduced myself and talked about where I got my start on the water. If you are just joining our blog, thank you for joining, and what took you so long?

As mentioned in my last post, I was working out in Hawaii for years. Hawaii is a great place filled with tons of Biodiversity and a variety of creature that call the Pacific Ocean home. Here in New Jersey, we also have lots of fun Biodiversity that call the Atlantic Ocean home. So for this post, I’d like to highlight some differences between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water on the Planet. It is 63 million square miles large. The United States is about 3.8 million square miles. So that means the Pacific is about 15 times larger than the entire United states. The Atlantic Ocean, is only around 41 million square miles, or about 10 times the size of the USA. All this to say that when we talk about things this large, it would take too much time to hit all the topics. So I want to focus on just differences that I have noticed in my day to day work. 

Here in Cape May, we get lots more birds. When I first started, the birds really threw me off. Out in Hawaii, if I saw a speck on the water, chances are it was a dolphin, whale, shark, turtle, or other sea dwelling critter. Here in NJ, you can add birds to that list, which makes finding the Water animals a bit more challenging. 

Another major difference I have noticed is water clarity. If you have ever been in Hawaii you know just how blue and clear the water is. Some days SCUBA diving we could see as far as 100 feet away, but the splashes from animals can be harder to see. In New Jersey that visibility in the water is much less. From a boat, we can only see the top 5 or so feet deep. Finding the animals here in NJ as a result is a bit different. The spouts and splashes are much more pronounced set against a darker backdrop. Both Oceans present different challenges, but also different rewards. I love seeing the different life in each ocean, but we do have some similarities between the two.

In both Oceans, I have had the pleasure of seeing Humpback whales. Due to where Hawaii and New Jersey are located, we encounter then during two different phases of the Humpback life cycle. Whales spend their summers up north and winters down south. In Hawaii, the whales would come to give birth, so we got lots of baby whales. I have seen baby whales playing, as well as Adults competing for mates. Here in New jersey, those whales are traveling and feeding. Watching Humpbacks lunge feeding and going after fish is really exciting as well. 

Next time you are out with us on the boat, feel free to ask me specifics on what exactly we are looking for to find the whales. I love sharing knowledge with people and getting them interested in the life aquatic. The more people we have looking for the animals, the easier it is to find them!

Come back next time to read some more thoughts on the world’s oceans from me.

By Naturalist Marc Dezii

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