Why Whale Watch From Gloucester?

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".