Ask a New England Aquarium Whale Watch Naturalist

What will I see on a whale watch?

Humpback whales are the most common whale to see, since they spend a lot of time floating right at the surface. Minke whales, a smaller baleen whale, are often spotted. And fin whales, the second-largest animal on Earth, after only the blue whale, cruise these waters as well.

“They can get up to 75 to 85 feet long, but they have this torpedo-shaped body, and they’re very fast, so they can be a little elusive,” Linnea said of the fin whales. You might also catch toothed whales like Atlantic white-sided dolphins, common dolphins, and harbor porpoises, and, occasionally, a surprise baleen whale guest like a sei whale.

These animals all converge near Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary because it’s a uniquely rich and dynamic feeding ground. The sanctuary sits within the Gulf of Maine, a basin-shaped ecosystem where cold, nutrient-dense water gets funneled up from the sea floor toward the sunlit surface. That sparks an explosion of phytoplankton each spring, which kicks off a vibrant food web all the way up to whales.

Whale watchers most often glimpse whales’ feeding, traveling, or resting behaviors. Everyone loves a fluking dive, that classic lift of the tail before a whale slips below the surface. Humpbacks also “log,” floating motionless right below the surface to sleep and sometimes use bubbles to corral fish.

“This year, we’re having a little bit of what feels like a baby boom, so we have a lot of baby humpbacks,” Linnea noted. “We’ve been watching some really fun behaviors from babies that read as very playful and curious — some fun rolling, attempts at fluking dives but they’re not quite strong enough to do them yet and it’s really cute.”