STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Paul Sieswerda Sr. was enamored by the expansion of exploration in the 1960s.
Humans were going to the moon and treading on ground never reached before, and as new frontiers were being crossed in the sky above, Jacques Cousteau, the French author, filmmaker, inventor and explorer was breaking barriers and making the vast untouched limit of the ocean’s depths tangible for the first time.
It’s there where Sieswerda found his purpose.
After studying English in college, he developed an unbreakable conviction to be part of the excitement blossoming under the ocean’s surface. That desire would fundamentally begin a long and storied career that brought him to Staten Island, where his passion was met with a city welcoming the ocean’s largest inhabitants.
Sieswerda spent decades studying marine life through positions in numerous aquariums. In interviews over the course of his life, he has expressed gratitude for the opportunity that has brought him to the frontiers he sought to reach.
“I’ve been diving in many of the oceans around the world and seen some really amazing things,” he said on a podcast last year.
His journey eventually enabled him to serve as curator in the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn. There, he received hands-on experience in projects both throughout the city and overseas, allowing him to continue to pursue new advances in marine research.
But, after years passed and he closed the book on his career, his insatiable aspiration to explore never waned.
That’s when the Dongan Hills resident founded Gotham Whale in 2009. Since then, the nonprofit has been a fixture in New York City’s environmental rolodex.
Dongan Hills resident Paul Sieswerda counts seals as part of the Kingsborough Community College Maritime Technology class’ partnership with the Aquarium for Wild Life Conservation on March 19, 2009. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)
Under Sieswerda’s leadership, the organization has led whale watching tours, conducted vital research and helped inspire a connection to whales as they have made their way into the city’s waters, which have been teeming with life in recent years.
He began to see the payoff of pushes to improve the environment and reverse practices that damaged water quality and hurt marine life. As the ocean has become cleaner, fish have arrived and allowed for an abundant ecosystem to proliferate.
However, Gotham Whale is now at a precarious point. Paul Sieswerda Jr. told the Advance/SILive.com his father, now 81, has dealt with recent health issues and is looking for support to keep the organization’s mission alive.
“Gotham Whale is on a sink-or-swim type of cusp,” he said of his father’s nonprofit.
Those pursuits are underway, and the younger Sieswerda, who lives in Massachusetts, said he has been humbled by the current outreach of those looking to volunteer. Other efforts like fundraising and leadership will be needed as Gotham Whale aims to survive and evolve in the coming years.
Sieswerda Jr. has stepped in to aid in that transition as an influx of whales in New York City’s waters has raised interest in getting a first-hand look at seeing the leviathans break the surface of the water.
“We’re taking it to a call out to volunteers and some leadership to get more involved with sustaining the organization, to bring it to getting some funding sources and get the name out there,” he said.
A humpback whale's tail breaks the surface of the water as it dives during an American Princess Cruises Whale Watching tour in the Atlantic Ocean Sunday, July 23, 2017. (Staten Island Advance/ Bill Lyons) Staff-Shot
Since its inception, Sieswerda Jr. said Gotham Whale has been a community-based effort. His father, he said, viewed every ticket purchased for a whale watching tour as a “mini grant” to study the species that have fueled his passion for the ocean.
That research extends to other environmental efforts, like measuring water quality and food sources that help the ecosystem surrounding the five boroughs to thrive.
“He’s maintaining and trying to keep this organization afloat and going forward with looking for more leaders to pass the torch to,” he said of his father.
The push to keep Gotham Whale running is a personal one for Sieswerda Jr., who has had a front-row seat to his father’s enthusiasm and love for the water.
“I’m picking up that passion with keeping his legacy alive to pass on to my kids to understand what their grandfather has done and what he’s accomplished,” he said.
Those interested in helping the organization can reach out through its website.
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