PRESS RELEASE

Aquarium to celebrate Massachusetts Right Whale Day on April 24

Public invited to learn about conservation efforts to protect right whales

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Scientists and educators pose with a life-size inflatable right whale
Scientists and educators pose with a life-size inflatable right whale at the Aquarium on Massachusetts Right Whale Day in 2024. CREDIT: Vanessa Kahn/New England Aquarium

BOSTON, MASS. (April 2025) – The New England Aquarium will be marking the third annual Massachusetts Right Whale Day on April 24, an opportunity to educate the public about the importance of this critically endangered species and the threats it faces.

Right Whale Day, signed into law in 2023, honors the state’s official marine mammal—the North Atlantic right whale. Each winter and spring, roughly two-thirds of the 370 individuals remaining in the right whale population visit the waters off Massachusetts. This year’s celebration at the New England Aquarium will highlight the important research happening in the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life to protect these animals and ways the public can support right whale conservation efforts. There will also be a speaking program with state leaders at 10 a.m.

Activities on the Aquarium’s Central Wharf Plaza and inside the Simons Theatre are free of charge and open to the public. Plans for the day:

Learn about right whale conservation

  • The public is invited into the the Aquarium’s Harbor Terrace Tent from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to speak with businesses, state agencies, and research organizations advancing right whale conservation efforts. Tables will have information on right whale research, on-demand or “ropeless” fishing gear, and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust’s (MET) grant programs funded by the right whale license plate.

Life-size right whale on display 

  • Calvin, a 42-foot-long inflatable right whale, will be on full display on Central Wharf Plaza (weather permitting) from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Meet a scientist

  • Visitors are invited to talk with Aquarium scientists and participate in hands-on educational activities about the Aquarium’s leading right whale research from the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Central Wharf Plaza.

Speaking program 

  • Members of the media and public are invited to attend an event from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the Harbor Terrace Tent. The event is co-hosted by MET alongside the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and the Department of Fish & Game’s Division of Marine Fisheries. The program will feature remarks from the EEA, the New England Aquarium, and more on the importance of protecting North Atlantic right whales.

Programming inside the Aquarium 

  • For guests inside the Aquarium (admission ticket required), there will be themed educational opportunities for all ages throughout the day. In addition, a right whale expert from our Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life will share their most unexpected experience with a right whale and answer guest questions at the top of the Giant Ocean Tank at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

 

MEDIA CONTACT: Pam Bechtold Snyder—617-686-5068; psnyder@neaq.org