MBTA changes ferry service to Boston due to whales spotted along ferry transit route (2025)

The MBTA has temporarily changed its Lynn ferry service schedule due to the presence of right whales in Broad Sound, between Lynn and Boston.

As of Thursday, Ferries will operate at reduced speeds until Tuesday, April 29, the MBTA said in an alert on its website.

Delays are expected and some ferry trips between Lynn and Boston could be canceled. These trips will now take about 90 minutes, which is more than double the typical 40 minutes it takes for the ferries to travel, the MBTA said in a statement on Wednesday.

All vessels in Broad Sound are required to follow the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s guidance to reduce speeds to 10 knots in order to protect the whales in the area, the MBTA stated.

For now, this change is only affecting the Lynn ferry route, the transportation agency added.

This action is in coordination with federal environmental protections, specifically the recently implemented right whale “Dynamic Management Area” in Broad Sound, the Lynn ferry’s main route, the MBTA’s statement read.

“Right whales have recently been sighted in Broad Sound,” the statement read.

The MBTA and Boston Harbor City Cruises are complying out of an abundance of caution “and environmental responsibility,” the MBTA added.

Inbound tops from Lynn will now depart at 7:30 a.m. and arrive at Long Wharf at 8:55 a.m., the agency said. The other departing service will leave Lynn at 10:45 a.m. and arrive at Long Wharf at 12:15 p.m. Outbound trips from Boston will depart at 5:45 p.m. and arrive in Lynn at 7:15 p.m.

The ferry service may require further updates if needed, as the MBTA monitors updates from NOAA.

Being struck by boats and ships is the leading cause of death for right whales, according to NOAA. The whales swim at or just under the water’s surface, which puts them at risk when fast-moving vessels are in the area. By slowing down the speed of these vessels, the risk of being struck is greatly reduced.

A few right whales have been spotted off the Massachusetts cost in recent days. A mother and her calf were seen in Cape Cod Bay, according to an April 14 Facebook post from the Center for Coastal Studies, based in Provincetown.

Last Thursday, the center’s Marine Animal Entanglement Response team worked to disentangle a five-year-old male right whale with several ropes and buoys caught around its upper jaw, the group said in a statement on Tuesday. The whale had been entangled since December 2024.

Though the team was successful in removing some of the fishing gear, several hours of further attempts to approach the whales were unsuccessful, the Center for Coastal Studies stated. The entanglement could prove to be lethal for the mammal.

“This will be a particularly challenging case to solve,” rescue team Director Scott Landry said in the statement. “While there may be enough entangling gear on the whale to kill him over the long term, there is not enough gear for us to use techniques we would normally use.”