Whale Watching from Gloucester MA :: How Many Whales Will We See?

How Many Whales Will We See?

Now that we have established why Gloucester is such a convenient port from which to venture out to sea and look for whales, let's spend some time discussing how many whales you are likely to encounter. Despite what ANY whale watch company's brochure or website may claim, you can never really guarantee that a given species of whale, or any whale for that matter, will be encountered on a given trip (you can guarantee a free return ticket if you don't see whales, as most companies do, but you can't guarantee the whales themselves... there is a difference). That being said, the extremely high productivity of this marine ecosystem means that whales are sighted on over 99% of our trips and sometimes we go years without "skunking" (skunking=industry slang for not seeing any whales on a trip).

So exactly how many individual whales will you see? Answer: probably between one and fifty. Pretty vague, huh? Well, that's because these animals are WILD. They are not captive creatures in a zoo or aquarium, and they certainly don't perform or do tricks for our amusement. These are wild animals that are here to feed in the biologically rich waters of the southern Gulf of Maine. Their abundance, therefore, is dictated by the abundance of food available to them. At times (many times, actually) there are so many whales that we can't possible visit them all in one trip. At other times it takes cooperation between all whale watch boats (and most whale watch companies DO cooperate) to find one or two whales.

It is impossible to say what time of day, or even what time of the year is best to go whale watching because the answer to that question changes so much from year to year. Ask you self this: If whales were not hunted to the brink of extinction in the last four centuries would they be the iconic symbol of endangered wildlife that they are today? Would we be so fascinated with them if seeing one was commonplace? One of the most exciting things about seeing a wild whale is encountering an animal which still teeters on the brink of extinction. It is estimated that less than 1% of people living on planet Earth will see a whale in their lifetime. Therefore, any time you see even one whale, perhaps from a great distance away, you still very lucky. If you happen to see a dozen whales (as is more often times the case) within a few meters of your boat, you are truly privileged.