Hoboken Man Films 3 Whales Off Jersey Shore

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken insurance agent Roger Muller, a longtime fisherman, was excited to see three whales swimming just off the Jersey shore last month, and posted video recently. Muller said he saw the mammals near the northern part of the shore, and that he'd never seen them this close to land.

He also said he's been seeing fish in the water that he's never seen before (see below), which are attracting the larger predators.

"This was near Sandy Hook, so I would say Sea Girt, NJ," Muller said of the whale sightings. "If you travel down the Hudson and then go a little to the left between Coney Island and Sea Girt. Twenty minutes by boat from Hoboken."

Muller noted, "I have seen some, but not this close, and they are getting very close to the beaches because there is so much bait in the water."

He added, "I could see them eating sand eels when they had their mouths open and the birds were picking up the pieces that were floating up. They are also eating bunker, which people catch to use for striped bass fishing."

Dolphins And Bluefins And More

Muller, whose family-owned Hoboken business, Muller Insurance, is 115 years old, said he has been fishing since he was a boy.

He said he recently saw a school of 40 saddleback dolphins and caught "my largest black sea bass of 15 inches. I caught a few ocean pout also, and I never saw these kinds of fish until last year. The water is really getting much cleaner in the Hudson and Atlantic and there are many new fish and animals showing up."

More recently, he caught two bluefin tuna this week, in an area off the shore known as Chicken Canyon, and some mahi mahi.

Experts say recent changes in the environment, due to people staying inside amid coronavirus, may have been buoying nature and encouraging animals to return to their natural habitats. READ MORE: Hoboken NJ Gets Cute Visitor: A Social Distancing Seal (VIDEO)

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