• reservations
• schedules
• pricing
• contact us
• directions

WHY ARE THE WHALES HERE?

Whales are found in the coastal waters near Gloucester, MA primarily from mid-March to early November.  The reason they come here is primarily to feed on the massive number of schooling fish such as Herring, Sand Lance, Mackerel, Copepods, and Krill that breed in these nutrient rich waters. Some of the larger whale species, such as Humpback Whales and Finback Whales, can consume over 3,000 pounds of fish per day!

These whales, however, don't remain in the area all year long. Many species of whales, especially Humpback whales, live highly a migratory lifestyle. While the thick layer of blubber (fat) that an adult whale has on its body could easily keep it warm/well-insulated all winter long, a newborn whale does not have a protective blubber layer and must be born in warmer water in order to survive its first few months of life. Therefore, the whales are forced to leave our area in the late fall and travel to warmer regions to mate and give birth to their young. The major mating and calving grounds for this particular population of Humpback Whales is located just north of the Caribbean Sea.

Unfortunately for the whales, the warm water of the Caribbean and surrounding area has much less oxygen and dissolved nutrients than does the cold waters of Stellwagen Bank and Jeffrey's Ledge. Therefore the Caribbean exhibits less productivity and contains fewer small fish species for food. This means that while the whales are in the Caribbean during the winter months they are fasting... they eat little or nothing for up to 5 months at a time!

During this long winter fast an adult Humpback whale may lose up to 25% of it's total body weight (up to 20,000 pounds!.)  In the spring "our" Whales must migrate back north to the Stellwagen Bank area  where food is abundant and they can replenish the weight that they lost and build up a new supply of energy (stored fat) for the next migration and next winter's fast.

The migration undertaken by Humpback whales each year equals a round trip of up to 5,000!  The food that the whales find here during the Summer fuels that great voyage.