Rare Blue Whale Sightings Off the Massachusetts Coast

The heart of a blue whale is as large as some folks are tall – an average of five feet long. That's a lot of heart for the largest animal ever known to live on Earth, growing up to 100 feet long and weighing 200,000 to 300,000 pounds.

Blue whales are an endangered species, though their numbers are rebounding.

The Marine Mammal Center says, "There are between 5,000 to 10,000 blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere and about 3,000 to 4,000 blue whales in the Northern Hemisphere." The Center warns, "Blue whales continue to face threats in their ocean home, such as ship strikes and impacts from ocean trash and fishing gear."

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Whalers hunted blue whales for their blubber, bringing the population to near extinction. In 1966, the International Whaling Commission declared blue whales protected worldwide.

On Monday, July 8, 2024, passengers and crew aboard a Gloucester, Massachusetts-based Cape Ann Whale Watch vessel spotted a blue whale about 10 miles off Rockport, Massachusetts.

Boston's WVCB-TV Channel 5 reports Cape Ann Whale Watch co-owner Captain Jim Douglas was surprised by the sighting.

"It's very exciting considering the fact that we've only seen blue whales four times in our 46 years of business," Douglas said. "Our naturalists who do this every day were literally crying on the deck of the boat when they saw it, so it does give you goosebumps."

ABC News reports the Cape Ann Whale Watch boat encountered blue whales twice on Monday during two whale watch excursions.

The Center for Coastal Studies says blue whales generally remain hundreds of miles offshore so Monday's sightings were a rare treat.