The sanctuary partners with various museums and aquariums in the region to support exhibits around sanctuary resources and programs. Check with each institution about days and hours of operation, entry fees, and special programs.
The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the Center for Coastal Studies, and the Town of Provincetown (along with several other partners) are now in the process of planning a multi-use visitor center in Provincetown near MacMillan Wharf. Check back for updates.
A section of the Cold Water Gallery on the upper level of the aquarium focuses on Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Species of the boulder reefs inhabit one tank while another features fishes on the sandy bank. Other nearby tanks display additional species that can be found in the sanctuary. At the opposite end of the Gallery, the aquarium profiles Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
An entire room is dedicated to the sanctuary and includes exhibits on shipwrecks, whales, geology, biodiversity, and the ecosystem. Videos and touchscreen units provide in-depth content.
This traveling exhibit about humpback whales provides information about their feeding grounds (particularly Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary), their breeding grounds (including several Sister Sanctuaries in the Caribbean Sea), migration routes, and threats to the whales’ safety. The exhibit has visited the Boston Museum of Science, The Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk, Connecticut and the Worcester Ecotarium. It is now located at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut.
Province Lands Visitor Center and Herring Cove Beach of the Cape Cod National Seashore, Provincetown, Massachusetts – outdoor signage on whales, seabirds, shipwrecks, marine debris. The visitor center includes information about the sanctuary ecosystem.
MacMillan Wharf, Provincetown, Massachusetts – a free-standing, four-sided exhibit presents information about whaling to whale watching and research.
Scituate Maritime and Irish Mossing Museum, Scituate, Massachusetts – information on shipwrecks in the sanctuary and artifacts from the Portland Gale of 1898.
Seacoast Science Center, Rye, New Hampshire -- A touchscreen unit detailing sanctuary work with right whales and information about the shipping lane shift into Boston can be viewed here.
Salt, the sanctuary’s life-sized inflatable humpback whale, travels around the region for events, such as the Boston Boat Show, Scituate Heritage Days, school science fairs and summer school programs.
The sanctuary also supports a traveling kiosk on marine debris, tents or tables at fairs and conferences, and small traveling displays at various locations around the region. Check our Calendar page for more information about site visits.
