Pop had been patrolling the beach due to bad weather. At the time, he was running a marine salvage business. Grammy and Pop always had a heart for animals and rescuing marine life. You name it - they’ve had it as a pet - dogs, cats, turtles, a raccoon, a seal, and (for a brief time) a whale in a swimming pool. An unknown species of whale had washed ashore after a passerby thought he witnessed a large shark hit the jetty at the end of Nelson Avenue in Beach Haven, NJ. Pop was notified - due to his reputation as the town naturalist and owning salvaging equipment - and arrived at the scene.
Using a 4x4 truck and his salvage equipment, they were able to hoist the 12.5 foot, 1000 lb whale into a makeshift sling that was typically used to lift engines out of sunken vessels. They transported the whale to the neighbors swimming pool in order to allow him to rest and rehabilitate. When I asked what the neighbor thought about waking up to a whale in his backyard Pop said “We didn’t really ask permission, I don’t think he cared.” They took a section of the neighbors fence out in order to back in the truck and lift the mammal into the pool. But hey - all in the name of science, right?
Pop, who named the animal “Hope”, was unable to identify the species of whale with a sweeping smile, two visible teeth, and a streamlined tail. So he called a friend who suggested contacting the Smithsonian institute. He was connected with Dr. James Meade, head of the marine mammal division and Dr. Edward Mitchell of the Bureau of Fisheries and Research in Canada. Together, they were able to identify the animal as an extremely rare species of beaked whale - one that had never been studied and very rarely seen until then. They had also never had a live blood sample on a deep diving whale before. They were excited to study the animal’s ability to avoid the bends. They were able to retrieve numerous blood samples over the course of 6 or 7 days. More and more scientists arrived at the scene (some coming from as far as California); all of them camping out in Grammy and Pop’s living room.
The team of scientists transported Hope to the Coney Island, New York Aquarium. Sadly, he passed the following day. He was still, to this day, one of the longest beaked whales to survive in captivity and one of only a few studied at all. He supplied Dr. Meade and other researchers a ton of insight, blood samples, and material to study for years to come.