Wildlife Adoptions for Kids of All Ages!
Help protect marine wildlife through NECWA’s adoption program.
Adoption Packages are fun, educational and affordable.
Adopt one of the animals below for yourself or for someone special in your life.
To see some of the our available animals in their natural habitat,
watch our YouTube video, created for us by the Whale Video Company.
The Available Animals
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| FINBACK WHALE | HUMPBACK WHALE | OCEAN SUNFISH | BASKING SHARK |
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| GREATER SHEARWATER | NORTHERN GANNET | HARBOR SEAL | GRAY SEAL |
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| GREAT WHITE SHARK | SEA TURTLE |
Each adoption package comes with a beautiful photo of the adopted animal and a personalized adoption certificate that includes the recipients name and date of adoption. Also included are fun fact sheets with lots of educational information and additional images of the animal selected. Two adoption packages are available: Standard Adoption Package and Deluxe Adoption Package. Please see below for details.
Every adoption supports NECWA’s efforts to help protect coastal marine wildlife off New England. Wildlife Adoptions make great gifts and birthday presents for nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts of all ages.
You may choose between the following:
Standard Adoption Package for $19
(plus $4 for Shipping & Handling)
- a frameable adoption certificate with your name and date of adoption
- a color picture of your adoptable marine animal
- fact sheets on your adopted animal
- a “Wildlife Supporter” magnet
- a NECWA decal
- our quarterly e-newsletter
Deluxe Adoption Package for $39 (plus $4 for Shipping & Handling)
- a frameable adoption certificate with your name and date of adoption
- a color picture of your adoptable marine animal
- fact sheets on your adopted animal
- a “Wildlife Supporter” magnet
- a NECWA decal
- our quarterly e-newsletter
- plus “Awesome Whales for Kids” DVD from the
Whale Video Company.
Watch a clip from this great movie - DVD clip.
Salt, the humpback whale, Deluxe Adoption Package for $49
(plus $4 for Shipping & Handling)
- a frameable adoption certificate with name and date of adoption
- a color picture of Salt's tail
- fact sheets on Salt and humpback whales
- a “Wildlife Supporter” magnet
- a NECWA decal
- our quarterly e-newsletter
- plus “Salt & Friends” DVD from the
Whale Video Company.
Watch a clip from this great movie - DVD clip. - plus “One and only one whale” CD from Whale Listening.
Please download and print the Adoption Form and
mail it with a check or money order to:
- NECWA - New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance
- 11 Clarence Soule Drive
- Middleboro, MA 02346
Here is some information about each animal.
- Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is the most curious and friendly baleen whale that feeds in our New England waters. Humpback whales often lift their tail, called the fluke, out of the water as they prepare to dive deep. On the underside of the fluke is a beautiful black and white pigmentation pattern that is unique to each individual humpback. Scientists use this pattern to identify and re-sight many individual humpback whales, like Salt, who has been seen feeding in the waters off New England every year since 1976.- Finback Whale
The finback whale is the second largest of all the great whales and can reach lengths of over 80 feet. Finbacks have earned the nickname, “the greyhounds of the sea”, for they are one of the fastest animals offshore, exceeding speeds of over 25 mph. In the spring and fall, you can often see finbacks feeding close to shore, such as off Race Point, where the ocean bottom drops off quite steeply less than 100 yards from the beach.- Ocean Sunfish
The ocean sunfish is the heaviest bony fish in the world! This gentle giant can reach up to 10 feet in length and weigh close to 2 tons. This large pelagic fish prefers warmer waters, but heads north to our colder New England waters to feed on jellyfish and other gelatinous critters. Off New England, ocean sunfish spends a lot of time close to the surface and is this why they are called “the ocean sunfish”.- Basking Shark
The basking shark is the second largest shark in the world, reaching up to 40 feet in length and 7 tons in weight. The mouth of the basking shark is lined with hundreds of little teeth. Yet this modern leviathan spends its time filtering plankton, not people, out of the water! Basking sharks are often seen at the water’s surface, filter feeding with mouth wide open or traveling with some secret destination in mind.- Harbor Seal
The harbor seal is a small seal that spends its winters and springs off Cape Cod. This seal has a turned-up nose like a dog's nose, which is how it got its nickname, “the ocean pup”. At low tide, harbor seals are often seen hauled out on rocks resting or sunning themselves in the warm sunshine. When out of the water, harbor seals often rest by keeping both their head and tail pointed up in the air, in what some describe as a “banana-like” posture.- Gray Seal
The gray seal is a gregarious seal that lives in groups off our New England coast. This is the only large seal that stays off Cape Cod year round. Gray seals have established breeding colonies on the south side of Cape Cod including Monomoy, a long spit of sand just south off Chatham, and on small islands in Nantucket Sound. The coat of the gray seal does have a gray appearance, especially when its’ fur is dry.- Northern Gannet
The northern gannet is the largest seabird that feeds off the coast of New England. With a 6 foot wingspan, this graceful giant flies high above the water in search of small schooling fish. Northern gannets are called “plunge divers” for when a fish is spotted from above, this bird tucks in its wings and nose dives straight into the water, grabbing the fish with its long and sturdy beak.- Greater Shearwater
This sea bird is a beautiful glider who beats its wings and then glides like a kite just above the surface of the water. The greater shearwater comes to New England to feed on small schooling fish that are abundant offshore from spring to fall. In the winter, greater shearwaters head south, traveling thousands of miles to nesting sites in the South Atlantic. Scientists have recently discovered that many species of shearwaters make some of the longest annual migrations of any animal on this planet.- Great White Shark
The ancestor of our modern day shark dates back over 450 million years. Many different species of sharks thrive in the productive waters off Cape Cod and other regions of New England. Some shark species are docile like the Angel shark while others are much more aggressive and fast swimming like the Mako shark. Great white sharks can also be found off Cape Cod for they feed on fish, other sharks and marine mammals. Seals are a favorite food or prey of the Great White and areas like Monomoy off Chatham support year-round seal populations that entice Great Whites to visit each season.- Sea Turtle
Sea turtles are air-breathing reptiles that are wonderfully adapted to life in the ocean. Our New England waters are a seasonal home to 6 out of the 7 species of sea turtle and all receive protection in US waters. Some species, like the Kemp’s Ridley, are small in size weighing only 100 pounds or less. Other species, like the Leatherback sea turtle, are the largest species of marine reptile in the world with adults often weighing over 1000 pounds. Sea turtle populations have been seriously reduced worldwide due to man's activities, but recent conservation actions are helping these majestic animals make a comeback.
