Why choose Yankee Whale Watching?

Yankee Whale Watch and Deep Sea Fishing is Consistently Voted Best in New England

For over 60 years, Yankee Fleet has earned a reputation for great service, fun, and stewardship of our marine world. It was not until the mid 1970's that our journey to sea was for the purpose of viewing whales. It began with research for area colleges, and has grown to become a leading platform for research and education.

Read whale watching testimonials from our Yankee Fleet friends!

Why Your Trip With Us Is Special

Our staff scientists work tirelessly to make your whale watch trip the most interesting, fun, and thought provoking experience possible. We have credentialed passionate, dedicated naturalists aboard each trip who strive to educate each customer while collecting valuable data on species, their behaviors, and environmental conditions. This data is then used to support research that aims to protect these magnificent animals so they may still be enjoyed for generations to come.

Optional activities include:

Passengers learn about a new special topic each month. Information sheets are available onboard.
Read about whales from our selection of excellent books onboard, for both children and adults.
Read about current ocean news from a collection of articles.
Be a research assistant for a trip! A $40 donation will allow you to work up in the wheel house with the naturalist. Ask about this when you make reservations.
Become a Junior Captain! Join us in the wheel house and learn about navigation and marine instrumentation, and be able to drive the boat. Ask about this when you make reservations.
Kids from 1 to 99 can receive a packet of activities tailored to their age including coloring sheets, marine mammal anatomy lessons, word searches, articles and more! Please be sure to arrange this in advance with the reservationists when you book your trip so we can be sure to customize the package to your needs.

Located between two rich feeding grounds

Gloucester is located between Stellwagen Bank, to the south, and Jeffrey's Ledge to the north. Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuary is home to one of the world's richest feeding grounds. This area is home to the Sand Launce (or Sand Eel) the favored food of Humpback Whales. Fin Whales and Minkes can also be found here, or on Jeffrey's Ledge. Unlike areas such as Boston, Plymouth, Cape Cod, Newburyport and other places who have access to only one of these areas, we can go to where we think is the best opportunity to find whales!

Our Fleet finds the Whales!

We have Deep Sea Fishing vessels out many mornings at 5 am. The captains of these vessels are able to radio back the locations of whales they have seen. Our captains know where the whales are before they even leave the dock. We spend less time looking for whales and more time looking at them!