For over 40 years, the Center for Coastal Studies has served as Provincetown’s hometown organization for coastal and marine environmental awareness, research, and education, yet enjoys an international reputation for its extensive research on the humpback whale that is the basis of the town’s whale watching industry, and the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale that visits our waters January-May.

The Center is a pioneer in marine animal disentanglement, regional water quality monitoring, high resolution seafloor mapping, seal and fisheries research, marine debris and marine plastics studies, and some of the earliest and ongoing studies of land-sea interaction.

The Center’s newly renovated Hiebert Marine Laboratory is open year-round and features the only large whale skeleton on Cape Cod, that of Spinnaker, a 37-foot humpback whale who died of entanglement in 2015, as well as specialty books on marine science for sale. We also offer field walks, educational programs, beautifully designed apparel at our kiosk on MacMillan Pier in season, and the popular winter lecture series at Napi’s the last Wednesday of the month, October—May.

5 Holway Avenue, Provincetown, MA, 02657