Gloucester Whale Watching Tour
Gloucester, MA~ Recognized as one of the nation’s top fishing ports, Gloucester is brimming with history, dining, culture, events, and shopping including delicious seafood and beautiful beaches, making Gloucester a top summer destination. Founded in 1642, Gloucester is a place to see, feel, and taste history. It is also a primo place to go whale watching!
Like most of you who watch reality television, my husband and I enjoy the bluefin tuna fishing show, “Wicked Tuna.” This show follows various cast members competing with each other to be the top dog in a race for a pay day in this difficult industry. Fishing for bluefin tuna is a way of life for many residents of Gloucester, Massachusetts.
“Wicked Tuna” takes viewers into the unrelenting North Atlantic waters infamously spotlighted by the novel-turned-feature film, “The Perfect Storm'” to follow captains who are relied upon by their families, their shipmates, and by Gloucester itself, to haul in boatloads of the large but elusive bluefin during a very limited season.
Many of these fishermen enjoy the viewing of the whales while they are fishing as the feeding grounds for the tuna and whales go together. My husband and I always commented that it would be so cool to see these whales like the fishermen get to daily during the tuna season.
So, when the opportunity presented itself… I happened upon a 7 Seas Whale Watching Tour that focused on the Stellwagen Bank area that we had witnessed on this show. I immediately booked a tour to surprise him. We had planned to travel to Gloucester then head up the coast to Acadia National Park joining the many that enjoy Bed and Breakfasting from Boston to Bar Harbor each summer wandering our way up the coast at a leisurely pace.
“The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination, and brings eternal joy to the soul.” ~THE END OF THE OCEAN
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Gloucester Whale Watching Tour
Anticipating the tour
We followed the directions on the reservation confirmation that described where to meet at the harbor in Gloucester to redeem our confirmation for entry tickets. Locating the parking was a bit challenging as traffic was congested. No parking was easily available near the little building where you check in, but a city lot was available nearby.
My husband has been struggling with a severe knee problem so we tried to be strategic with our parking. Once that was situated we found a place to wait for the earlier boat tour that had not returned yet. We applied generous amounts of sunscreen and found a place to sit awaiting boarding the tour. Tours left at 9:30am and at 1:30pm. We had opted for the afternoon tour.
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Gloucester Whale Watching Tour
What to expect on the tour
“Gloucester is the best port in Massachusetts to whale watch from because we are located directly between two major whale feeding areas, Stellwagen bank and Jeffrey’s Ledge, giving us access to more productive whale territory than boats leaving from any other port. Also, because Gloucester is located on a peninsula that extends 11 miles out to sea we are closer to the whales, which translates into less travel time and more whale watching time.” ~7 Seas Whale Watch
The tour is three and a half hours to four hours long, or longer. You are guaranteed sightings! If the tour operators do not feel you have had a “good enough” experience seeing whales, they will provide you with comp’d tickets to return on a future tour. We actually met people that had gone the day prior and returned to our tour due to this circumstance. Ironically, they thought each excursion was fabulous! Alcoholic drinks are available to purchase as well as food and non-alcoholic drinks.
The beaches, sunshine, and ocean provide the backdrop for many other adventures! Do you have a personal BUCKET LIST for travel dreams? You too can DAYDREAM YOUR NEXT TRAVEL ADVENTURE! We did on our last visit in Turks and Caicos Islands! We enjoyed exploration and adventure here!
If you remember to pack the TOP 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO PACK, you will be ready to dive into many ocean adventures and find joy for this adventure right along with us!
Gloucester Whale Watching Tour
Our specific tour experience
We boarded in an orderly fashion and immediately secured a bench seat on the open air top deck (uncovered) portion of the ship. Love fresh air and sunshine.
The trip out to the whales usually takes between 45 minutes to a little over an hour depending on the location of the whales, approximately 12 miles. But this day the whales were not to be found the entire 24 mile length of Stellwagen Bank, so the tour continued nearly all the way to Cape Cod to find the whales that were on the move to the whale’s feeding grounds.
You can think of Stellwagen Bank as a huge, underwater sandbar approximately 65-100 feet deep that it is about 24 miles long, 3-5 miles wide at its northern end, and just under 14 miles wide at its southern end.
Once we arrived on the feeding grounds, we spent approximately 1.5 hours with the whales. An onboard naturalist provided valuable insight into the lives of the whales and explained the behaviors the whales were engaged in. This provided a deeper appreciation of the whales we saw and the unique marine environment.
We saw various types of numerous whales here. The onboard naturalist explained the lineage and names of the whales that they follow season to season and even identified a new whale calf that they had not visually seen prior to that day. It was remarkable!
Gloucester Whale Watching Tour
Souvenirs and shopping
Capt. Dave Marciano is a favorite of ours on this show! This was really cool to see! Dave Carraro of FV-Tuna.com is also a favorite for his steadfast character.
So, of course we completed the day with the typical touristy stops while there in Gloucester. We bought the “Wicked Tuna” T-shirts, took the photos with the big fish, etc. It was a fun surprise for my husband and he was enthralled with the excitement of experiencing what we had witness on TV in “real life.”
We even stopped in at FAT TUNA (our absolutely favorite Capt of the fleet) Capt. Bob Cook’s LITTLE ITALY PIZZERIA in Beverly, MA to round out the nostalgia for a quick lunch!! The pizza was average. No restrooms available for use. They actually offered the gas station across the street as the restroom for the restaurant (shaking my head). It’s just a simple little pizza shop…Just being honest!
On our drive North up the coast we even drove through Rye, NH… shout out to Merm and Tyler on the Pinwheel! We looked for you, but didn’t see you! 🙂
God’s magnificent creation was on full display here in Gloucester! We were just in awe of it’s raw beauty both on the ocean and driving through the city. WHAT a beautiful coastal town to explore and enjoy! Take time out of your normal routine and go explore! My husband I really enjoy taking adventures together and exploring new interesting places. God’s wonderful creations abound and the joy shining within the people we meet reflects through their eyes when we can engage a conversation. It is our joy to find local color to share their culture and history with us when we are visiting new places! So many interesting people to meet on these journeys!
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Inspirationally Yours,
Barbara
BIO: https://www.inspirationaltraveladventures.com/about-us/
About Me
A 1993 graduate of Michigan State University, Barbara earned a BS in Social Science Pre-Law. She is a Business Manager/HR Director. Her passion is travel, discovering new places, experiences, cuisine, cultures while enjoying temperate climates. Barbara is a newly transitioning empty-nester who became a travel blogger. She’s a great photographer, talented writer, and has a great family to highlight in her high school/college athlete football sons.
WEBSITE: www.inspirationaltraveladventures.com
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Barbara Robinson
TRAVEL BLOG🛩 * ADVENTURE🛶 * INSPIRATION🌞 Thanks for exploring our travel blog! We hope to assist you in your next adventure through learning from ours! We are transitioning empty-nesters perpetually seeking our next luxury snorkeling adventure! Daily God’s awe inspiring inspiration surrounds us with all of His natural beauty in every direction if we but slow down to observe. Take a moment each day to ENJOY!
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2 Comments
Rosie
Sounds like an amazing experience. I like that it’s not only fun, but a wonderful learning experience as well. It’s also nice that the tour operators are ready to ensure everyone had a great time.
Barbara Robinson
Yes! It was very informational and amazing to witness!