page_title: Mobile Bay jubilee
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Mobile Bay jubilee / History
context_page_description: Jubilee is the name used locally for a natural phenomenon that occurs sporadically on the shores of Mobile Bay, a large body of water on Alabama's Gulf Coast. During a jubilee many species of crab and shrimp, as well as flounder, eels, and other demersal fish will leave deeper waters and swarm—in large numbers and very high density—in a specific, shallower coastal area of the bay. A jubilee is a celebrated event in Mobile Bay, and it attracts large crowds, many drawn by the promise of abundant and easy-to-catch seafood.
  Although similar events have been reported in other bodies of water, Mobile Bay is the only place where the regular appearance of this phenomenon has been documented.
context_section_description: While the occurrence of jubilees in Mobile Bay predates European settlement in the region, it is unknown exactly when or how these events came to be known by this name.  The first recorded printed use of the term "jubilee" in this context was in the Mobile Daily Register (now the Mobile Press-Register) on July 29, 1912:
  ... Hundreds of live sea crabs and fish ... completely covered the beach at Point Clear and Zundels Sunday morning. A fisherman of experience in explaining the unusual occurrence stated that it was a "jubilee"... People who saw the wild scramble of fish and crabs on the sandy beach say they won't soon forget the sight.
  — Mobile Daily Register, July 29, 1912
  This was not, however, the first time the newspaper had covered the phenomenon; in his research, oceanographer Edwin B. May found several dozen mentions of similar events, the earliest dated back to July 17, 1867 and alludes to the fact that the phenomenon was known to have happened earlier:
  EXCITEMENT AMONG THE FISH—Yesterday all the fish in the bay seemed to be making for the Eastern shore.  Large numbers of crabs, flounders and other fish were found at the water's edge, and taken in out of the wet.  They were counted by the bushel.  Annually this phenomenon occurs with the fish along the Eastern shore.  They all appear to forsake the deep water, and swim and cluster in immense numbers to the shore.
  — Mobile Daily Register, July 17, 1867
  In an oral account from 1960 a local fishing captain named Frank Phillips stated that he had observed jubilee events for the previous 60 years, indicating that "[N]either [the] frequency nor intensity ... had changed".  He also stated that his father had also seen jubilee events "...during all his life."
caption: On this map, common Jubilee locations are indicated with red arrows; less-frequent locations are indicated with yellow