Whale Watching in Gloucester, MA
Why
Whale Watch From Gloucester?
A Humpback Whale "Breaching" is a favorite sight on a Gloucester whale watch
Gloucester
whale watching is some of the best whale watching in the world. The diversity of
whale species that can been seen here is only equaled by far off corners of the
Earth such as Antarctica, Patagonia, and Alaska. This abundance of whales, combined with the close
proximity of both Stellwagen Bank and Jeffrey's Ledge, is no doubt responsible
for Gloucester's popularity as a whale watching port. At least 14 species
of whales have been
seen
off Gloucester in the time that Seven Seas Whale Watch has been in operation (since 1983). Some of
these whale species are quite common and seen on nearly every one of our whale
watching trips (i.e. Humpback whales,
Fin whales, and Minke whales) while other species are exceedingly rare (i.e. Beluga whale, Sperm
whale, and
Blue whale). Each year, the number and relative abundance (between
individual species) of whales off the Massachusetts
coast varies due to environmental factors that are, quite honestly, still beyond
the understanding of marine scientists. In some years Stellwagen Bank is the
more "active" region, while in other years Jeffrey's Ledge seems to be
the whale's preferred area to feed. One of the truly great things about
whale watching from Gloucester is that the city's location (on the southern end of Cape
Ann) is situated directly between both of these popular whale feeding
areas. This gives us the opportunity to visit either area... depending on where
whales are most abundant. No other whale watching port in Massachusetts or
New Hampshire has this ability. Further more, since Cape Ann extends
into the sea by 20+ miles, Gloucester is only 8 miles from the southern end of
Jeffrey's and 12 miles from the northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank.
Therefore the transit time from the dock to the whales is considerably shorter
than from any other port. It is truly unusual for such a large number of
whales to be found so close to a major seaport. This gives visitors
to Gloucester a tremendous opportunity to view whales in their natural habitat
while only having to spend 3-4 hours at sea, rather than many days! The
close proximity of these whales to the coast, however, means that we are faced
with additional challenges when it comes to preserving/conserving the
environment and well-being of the whales we are so fortunate to have in our own
"back-yard".
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