New Jersey Whale Watching: Why Experienced Naturalists & Scientists Matter
When you book a whale watching trip, you are not booking a visit to an aquarium. Whales are wild animals swimming freely in the Atlantic Ocean, and they can travel many miles in a single day. That is why the experience, eyesight, determination, and scientific knowledge of the people searching for them can make such a tremendous difference.
At Jersey Shore Whale Watch, finding whales is what we do.
For nearly 10 years, our naturalists and experienced crew have been searching the waters off the New Jersey coast. After thousands of hours on the ocean, they develop something that cannot be replaced by technology alone: incredible eyesight and an understanding of where and how to look.
A distant splash, an unusual group of birds, a patch of feeding fish, a whale’s blow on the horizon, or even a subtle change in the surface of the water can provide a clue.
And sometimes the most important thing is simply not giving up.
Our Naturalists Are Working Scientists
We believe a whale watching trip should be more than a boat ride where someone simply points and says, “There’s a whale.”
Our research and naturalist team is led by Dr. Danielle Browne, PhD, Rutgers University, Head of Research for Jersey Shore Whale Watch. Dr. Browne is also involved with Gotham Whale in New York City, where she serves on the Board of Directors and participates in whale research.
Our naturalists work alongside interns and students who are pursuing their own college educations and gaining real-world experience in marine science, wildlife observation, data collection, photography, and public education.
When we encounter a humpback whale, our team is not simply watching it. We are observing behavior, photographing identifying characteristics, documenting the location, and helping passengers understand what they are seeing.
That scientific knowledge also helps us find whales.
Experience Matters When You Are Searching the Atlantic
The ocean is enormous. A whale can surface miles away and disappear again before an inexperienced observer ever notices it.
Our naturalists spend trip after trip scanning the horizon.
They know what a whale blow looks like from miles away. They watch birds because feeding birds can indicate baitfish. They understand areas where whales have recently been feeding and how wind, currents, water conditions, and bait movement can change where whales might be found.
Our captains and naturalists communicate throughout the trip and make decisions about where we should search next.
The Jersey Girl’s new, faster engines have added another major advantage. When whales move farther north or south of Belmar, we now have the speed and range to cover significantly more coastline during a whale watching trip.
Sometimes that means traveling many miles up the Jersey Shore to find whales near Sandy Hook or the entrance to New York Harbor. On other days, whales may be closer to Belmar, Asbury Park, Long Branch, or other areas along the New Jersey coast.
We do not expect the whales to come to us.
We go looking for them.
Determination Can Make the Difference
Finding whales is not always easy. There are days when a whale may surface only briefly, travel several miles between sightings, or change direction unexpectedly. That is where experienced naturalists, captains, and spotters become especially important.
Our crew keeps looking.
Rather than simply traveling a short distance offshore, turning around, and calling it a day, we use the time available to search the areas where we believe whales are most likely to be found.
Our team combines recent sightings, years of experience, visual observation, marine conditions, and the speed of the Jersey Girl to give passengers the best opportunity possible to see whales in the wild.
There are never guarantees about exactly what a wild animal will do, but there is a major difference between simply taking a boat ride and going on a trip with a team that is determined to find wildlife.
Our Whale Watching Guarantee
That determination is also why we offer our whale watching guarantee.
If you take one of our qualifying three-hour whale watching trips and we do not see a whale, you receive complimentary return tickets under the terms of our whale guarantee.
There is no cash value and it is not a money-back guarantee. When you return, you simply pay the applicable booking fee for the reservation rather than purchasing your tickets again. For a typical small reservation, that total booking fee is usually around $25.
Why do we do this?
Because whales are wild animals.
There will occasionally be a day when the whales simply move beyond the area that we can reasonably reach during the scheduled trip. No captain or naturalist can control where a whale chooses to swim.
But if we do not find them that day, we want you to have another opportunity without having to purchase an entirely new set of tickets.
We think that is an important distinction when choosing a whale watching company.
Whale Watching Is Not Our Side Business
Jersey Shore Whale Watch is different from many sightseeing operations because whale watching is not something we do between fishing trips.
We do not run fishing trips.
This is not our side hustle. Whale watching is what we do.
Our season now extends through December. During the height of the season, we operate seven days a week. As demand falls off later in the year, we generally transition to approximately five days a week.
That means our captains, naturalists, researchers, interns, photographers, and crew spend an enormous amount of time actually looking for whales and dolphins along the New Jersey coast.
That experience accumulates year after year.
Our interns are also learning as they work with us. Many are attending college, studying subjects connected with marine science, biology, environmental science, wildlife research, and related fields. They gain hands-on experience alongside our naturalists while helping passengers learn about the animals living just offshore.
Thousands of Passengers Have Shared Their Experiences
One of the best ways to compare whale watching companies is to look at what previous passengers have said.
Based on the number and quality of our Google reviews, Jersey Shore Whale Watch ranks among the most-reviewed and highest-rated whale watching experiences in the country, including number two on the East Coast and number five overall in the continental United States in our review-based comparison.
We are proud of those numbers, but what matters most is what created them: thousands of individual passengers who took the time to tell other people about their experience aboard the Jersey Girl.
Our team works extremely hard to give every passenger a fantastic day on the Atlantic Ocean.
An Easy New York City Day Trip to the Jersey Shore
You do not have to fly to Alaska, California, or New England to see humpback whales.
You can take a train from New York City to the Jersey Shore.
The Jersey Girl sails from Belmar Marina in Belmar, New Jersey, and we are conveniently located about one block from the Belmar train station. That makes whale watching with us a memorable day-trip option for visitors staying in New York City as well as residents throughout New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
You can take the train down the coast, spend several hours whale watching on the Atlantic, enjoy Belmar and the Jersey Shore, and then take the train back toward New York City.
It is a completely different kind of day trip from the city and an opportunity to experience wildlife many people are surprised to learn can be found so close to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.
If the Trip Is Listed, We Are Planning to Run It
When planning your trip, check our current online schedule.
If you see a whale watching trip listed on our booking calendar, we are planning to run it.
Weather and sea conditions can always affect boating, but our goal is to give guests as many opportunities as possible to get out on the Atlantic and experience New Jersey whale watching.
Come aboard the Jersey Girl and experience whale watching with a crew that does this day after day, working alongside experienced naturalists, researchers, interns, and the next generation of marine scientists.
Because when you are searching an ocean for a wild animal, experience matters. Determination matters. Science matters. And the people doing the looking matter.
Jersey Shore Whale Watch sails from Belmar Marina in Belmar, New Jersey, aboard the Jersey Girl. Check our current schedule for available whale watching trips through December.