Center for Coastal Studies to Host Right Whale Day Events

Apr 3, 2026 | PRESS

The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) will mark Massachusetts Right Whale Day, Friday, April 24, with three special public events. In addition, a special film screening is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22.

Artmaking event
Right Whale Day begins with a free artmaking event at the Center for Coastal Studies, 5 Holway Avenue, Provincetown. The event is designed to celebrate right whales and is in partnership with Bow Seat: Creative Action for Conservation, the world’s largest environmental youth program for the creative arts, and is sponsored by the Mass Cultural Council. This is a family event intended for “kids of all ages.”

Examples of artmaking include sun prints, gyotaku/fish printing on tote bags, marine plastic pollution art, button making, and more. The event runs from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. Come for the entire time or just drop by!  Free, no registration is required. Art supplies and lunch are provided.

Whale Walk
CCS Director of Education Jesse Mechling will lead a Whale Walk along the beach in Provincetown from 2 to 3:30 pm.  Cape Cod is one of the best places on earth to view whales from land, and right whales are often sighted during the month of April.  Participants should meet at the Herring Cove parking lot. Wear good walking shoes and expect to walk up to three miles. There is a suggested donation of $10 for CCS members, $15 for non-members.  Registration is required.

Right Whale Panel Discussion
Capping off Right Whale Day, CCS will host “Right Whales: Perspectives on Stewardship,” a panel discussion at 5 pm.  Moderated by Leah Crowe, Science and Monitoring Lead – Protected Species with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the panel will include CCS Scientist Emeritus Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, CCS Right Whale Ecology Program researcher Annie Bartlett, Research Fish Biologist Brigid McKenna of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and fisherman Mike Lane.

This event will also be video recorded by Provincetown TV for later viewing.  Admission is free, registration is requested.

Right Whale Film Screening
In advance of Right Whale Day, there will be a screening of the documentary film, “The Right Whale, Tales of resilience and Hope,” produced by Spindrift Images, at Water’s Edge Cinema. 237 Commercial Street, Provincetown, on Wednesday, April 22, at 7 pm.  Research Associate Christy Hudak of the CCS Right Whale Ecology Program will join the film’s producers for a Q & A following the film.  The screening is presented by CCS and the Provincetown Film Society as part of the Planet Ptown film series.  Tickets are available at provincetownfilm.org.

About Massachusetts Right Whale Day
Massachusetts Right Whale Day was designated by the state legislature in 2023 to raise awareness about the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, the official state marine mammal. That legislation came at the urging of South Shore resident Matt Delaney, who was inspired by a sighting of a right whale off Provincetown in 2004.

Recalling that sighting at a Right Whale Day event in 2024, Delaney said, “when you have a 50-ton creature swim within 20 feet of your car [at Race Point], raise its super-huge black head, and open an eyeball the size of a softball and look at you, it’s something you’ll never, ever forget.”

To learn more about the Center for Coastal Studies and Right Whale Day, visit their website.