My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #535

Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #535 for September 5, 2016. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.

"Who ever thought SeaWorld would just give them away?"

Meanwhile, these captions never came up for air:

"You mean it isn't just a fluke?"
"Best whale watch ever."
"The Museum of Natural History wants it back by midnight."
"What part of catch and release don't you understand?"
"Well, one of us should sing to it."

September 12, 2016:  The Finalists

September 19, 2016:  The Rankings and My Voting

The three finalists were ranked 6th, 48th, and 37th respectively. I voted for the third caption.
The rankings are located here.

Here are the top fifty captions as ranked by crowdsourcing:

My caption was ranked 384th of 6098, placing it in the top 7%. It was voted unfunny by 83, somewhat funny by 25, and funny by 11. For comparison, the caption ranked 6th, the first finalist, was voted unfunny by 183, somewhat funny by 118, and funny by 100. It seems to me that many contestants are deliberately ranking even the best captions as unfunny as a way of improving their own statistical standing.

And at the very bottom of the ocean:

September 26, 2016 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  Last week, cartoonist P. C. Vey brought a giant snake into the office. My caption lacked bite. Wrap yourself around Contest #534.

Is there a cartoonist in the house? Benjamin Schwartz, please respond to your page.

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