On August 14th, Jimmy Buffett boarded an Ocearch.org research vessel off the coast of Montauk, NY where he watched the efforts to tag and track great white sharks. The researchers let Jimmy name one of the tagged sharks, which he dubbed “JD” after his father James Delaney.

JD was spotted this week off the Jersey shore, about 178 miles from where it was tagged.

JD, a tagged 75-pound juvenile male white shark that was named by singer Jimmy Buffett — who was on the vessel when the shark was tagged — was only yards from the Barnegat Light beaches Wednesday morning, according to the shark’s satellite tag.

The 5-foot 4-inch long shark was tagged by OCEARCH researchers on Aug. 14 after it was captured off the coast of Montauk, N.Y. during the group’s monthlong Empire State and Garden State expedition to search for great white sharks.

The shark traveled 178 miles from its capture site to Barnegat Light since being tagged.

Chris Fischer, OCEARCH’s founder and expedition leader, explained why the “Margaritaville” singer was on board the vessel at the time JD was tagged.

“Jimmy has been a real big supporter of OCEARCH,” said Fischer. “He named the shark after his dad, James Delaney.”

OCEARCH is researching the life-cycle of white sharks, an apex ocean predator. The sharks are known scientifically as Carcharodon carcharias and can grow up to 21 feet in length and weigh over 4,000 pounds.

Fischer estimates JD, which can be seen being tagged in the video above, is one year old and is feeding on small prey fish such as mackerel, menhaden and squid.

A second juvenile male white shark named Bruin also “pinged” off the coast of New Jersey Wednesday, but about 100 miles east of the coastline near the continental shelf.

A ping is when the shark’s dorsal fin, where the tag is placed, appears above the surface for more than 90 seconds, which enables the tag to be picked up by satellite.

Read more at app.com

Meet JD – a baby great white that was tagged and released on the Ocearch expedition. JB named him after his father…. A son of a sailor. You'll be able to follow JD at www.ocearch.org

A post shared by Jimmy Buffett (@jimmybuffett) on Aug 14, 2017 at 9:52am PDT

Visiting the Ocearch expedition off Montauk. Shark conservation is critical to ocean health. Ocearch doing important work. #ocearch #dontfearthefin

A post shared by Jimmy Buffett (@jimmybuffett) on Aug 14, 2017 at 6:11am PDT

As we reported last month, Jimmy Buffett may perform at an amphitheater in Key West early next year. And Buffett let slip that he they may name the venue after him:

Buffett Although City of Key West officials say no agreement is in place, Jimmy Buffett let slip last week that the amphitheater at Truman Waterfront Park may soon bear his name. “I’m going to have some big news in the world of naming amphitheaters like next week,” Buffett said.

Forbes has an article on Jimmy Buffett’s business empire: How Jimmy Buffett Turned Hit Song ‘Margaritaville’ Into A Multibillion-Dollar Empire

Jimmy Buffett’s classic hit “Margaritaville” is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The song debuted on the 1977 “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” album and quickly took on a life of its own, becoming a state of mind and way of life rooted in fun and escapism for those “growing older, but not up”.

The song about life in this euphoric place where days are wasted away nibblin’ on sponge cake and watchin’ the sun bake has also morphed into a global lifestyle brand that currently has more than $4.8 billion in the development pipeline and sees $1.5 billion in annual system-wide sales. This year, Margaritaville Holdings announced a partnership with Minto Communities to develop Latitude Margaritaville, new active adult communities for those “55 and better”, including the $1 billion Daytona Beach, Florida location and a second in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Read more at Forbes.