Jimmy Buffett has posted a message on the recent devastation across the Caribbean and in Florida from Hurricane Irma:

“I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers”

Blanche DuBois – from the Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire”

It might seem strange to be quoting Blanche DuBois in the aftermath of a hurricane, but her words seem to fit the scenario that so many people across the Caribbean and the whole state of Florida are now feeling. When your reality is blown away in a matter of hours, the kindness of strangers becomes a lifeline. Now in the 43rd hurricane season since I wrote the lyrics to “Tryin’ To Reason With Hurricane Season”, here we are again.

Singing For Change (SFC), our Foundation, was created 20 years ago, as a way to give back to communities where we play our live shows. But when bigger problems than what we are used to handling appear, we have to adapt. Through experience with Katrina and the Haitian earthquake, we’ve learned that the effects of disasters are still evident long after the TV crews have packed up and left, but we will still be there quietly making noise.

We live and work in the tropics and understand you have to have a plan of action when trouble appears on the horizon. As Irma plowed North, our team handled the needs of our staff and guests affected by the hurricane, and will continue to do so, as work begins to rebuild.

It takes a long time to recover from a hurricane. Some things do come back, some things don’t. Only last week, as I flew into New Orleans while Irma was ravaging St. Barth, I looked down at the land surrounding the airport, which was underwater when I flew there right after the storm, is today back to being a bustling community.

Hurricanes are forces of nature. Their arrivals are frightening and their departures leave chaos and turmoil, and the kindness of strangers can be the salve that helps with the healing. We have been there in the past, and will continue to do so.

Though I can’t physically be at the Harvey Benefit in Austin this month, I will do what I can from afar. When the waters in Florida recede and it is safe to do so, we will organize a benefit there as well. Stay tuned. In the meantime, just breathe in, breathe out and move on.

Fins Up,

JB

Tickets go on sale this morning at 10am CDT for Jimmy Buffett’s show at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on New Years Eve.

Nashville, TN
Sunday, December 31st, 2017
Bridgestone Arena

Direct links to get tickets –> Ticketmaster | Ticketnetwork

Huey Lewis & The News will be the opening act for the show.

You can still get tickets to Jimmy Buffett’s fall tour dates.

You can ring in the new year this year with Jimmy Buffett in Nashville!

Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band with Huey Lewis & The News will perform at Bridgestone Arena on December 31st.

Tickets go on sale Friday, September 15th at 10am through Ticketmaster and Ticketnetwork.

A presale begins on Wednesday, September 6th for American Express cardholders. More info here.

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.