Eel Pond Webcam – Watch Woods Hole’s Inner Harbor

The Eel Pond Webcam is the Marine Biological Laboratory’s live camera on Eel Pond, the enclosed harbor at the heart of Woods Hole, a village of Falmouth at the southwestern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It looks out from a float dock stacked with upturned dinghies, over a field of moorings, to the waterfront on the far shore: a long stone-faced building with three arched dormers in its dark roof, a white gabled building with garage doors, a low boat shed at the water’s edge, a white cupola with a weathervane behind them and a red-brick block on the right. A caption with the date and time runs along the top of the picture, and the scene shifts with the tide, the wind on the water and the boats coming and going.

About Eel Pond

Much of Woods Hole is built around Eel Pond. Measured on its OpenStreetMap outline, the pond covers about 6.4 hectares (16 acres) and stretches roughly 360 meters (1,180 feet) from north to south. Its link to the sea is a short channel at the south end, where Water Street crosses on the Eel Pond Bridge, a bascule drawbridge that lifts to let masted boats in and out on a schedule posted on the bridge itself. Inside, the water is a mooring field ringed by docks, among them the Eel Pond Town Dock and the Swope Dock on the northwest shore and the laboratory’s dinghy dock on the west side.

The shoreline is as much laboratory as village. The Marine Biological Laboratory was founded in Woods Hole in 1888, and its campus wraps around the pond’s southwest corner, where the Marine Resources Center and the old Candle House stand close to the water. The laboratory won its first funding for a Marine Resources Center on Eel Pond in 1988, and the center now keeps, breeds and supplies the aquatic and marine animals used in research. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, founded in 1930 and now the largest independent oceanographic research facility in the United States, has its village buildings along Water Street at the pond’s south end. The federal fisheries laboratory is older than both: it started the scientific community here in 1871.

Woods Hole itself is small. It had 834 residents at the 2020 census, in a census area of 10.1 square kilometers (3.9 square miles), nearly half of it water. The laboratory’s current YouTube broadcast from the pond began on March 28, 2019.

Weather and Climate in Woods Hole

NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for Woods Hole make January the coldest month, with average highs of 4°C (39°F) and lows of -4°C (25°F). Spring comes slowly to this corner of Cape Cod: April highs average 13°C (55°F), and nights still drop to 4°C (39°F). July is the warmest month, with highs of 26°C (79°F) and lows of 18°C (64°F). October cools to highs of 17°C (63°F) and lows near 9°C (49°F).

On camera, the seasons show mostly in the boats. In early November many of the moorings are already empty, marked only by their white floats, and the dinghies on the float lie upturned. In summer the pond can hold far more boats.

Things to Do Near Eel Pond

The Woods Hole Science Aquarium stands about 300 meters (1,000 feet) west of the pond at 166 Water Street. It opened in 1885 on the first floor of the first marine research building the US government put up in Woods Hole, claims to be the oldest aquarium in the country, and is run by the National Marine Fisheries Service with the Marine Biological Laboratory. About 140 species of fish and invertebrates live in its indoor tanks and touch tank. East of the drawbridge, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s exhibit center in Endeavor House and the Woods Hole Historical Museum are a few minutes’ walk apart.

The Shining Sea Bikeway starts at the Steamship Authority ferry terminal, a short walk south of the pond, and runs 17.2 kilometers (10.7 miles) to County Road in North Falmouth along the bed of the Old Colony Railroad’s Woods Hole branch, built in 1872. Its name comes from the song America the Beautiful. The same terminal is where the ferries leave for Martha’s Vineyard. Southeast of the village, Nobska Light stands on Nobska Point, run by the US Coast Guard, and the house beside it is home to the commander of the Coast Guard base at Little Harbor.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

These cameras cover more of the Cape Cod and island waterfront, starting with the ferry slips a short walk from Eel Pond.

• Falmouth Webcam
• Barnstable Harbor Webcam
• Edgartown Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Eel Pond in Woods Hole?

Eel Pond is in the middle of Woods Hole, a village in the town of Falmouth at the southwestern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Water Street crosses its outlet on a drawbridge at the south end, and the Steamship Authority ferry terminal is a short walk south of the pond.

What can you see on the Eel Pond Webcam?

The camera looks from a float dock with tenders and upturned dinghies across Eel Pond’s moorings to the far shore, where a stone-faced building with three arched dormers, a white gabled building with garage doors, a low boat shed, a white cupola and a red-brick block line the water. A green-hulled fishing boat and a few sailboats are often moored on the left.

What is the Eel Pond bridge in Woods Hole?

The Eel Pond Bridge is the bascule drawbridge that carries Water Street over the channel at the south end of the pond. It lifts on a schedule posted on the bridge to let masted boats in and out. The bridge is not a clear part of the webcam’s view, which looks across the moorings inside the pond.

Does this webcam show the Woods Hole ferry terminal?

No. The Steamship Authority terminal, where the ferries leave for Martha’s Vineyard, is a short walk south of Eel Pond and is not in this view. The Falmouth Webcam listed above looks straight at the terminal and its ferry slips.

Who runs the camera on Eel Pond?

The camera belongs to the Marine Biological Laboratory, the research institution founded in Woods Hole in 1888, and streams on the laboratory’s YouTube channel. Its current broadcast began on March 28, 2019 and runs around the clock.

Can you watch the Eel Pond Webcam at night?

Yes. The stream keeps running after dark, when dock lamps and lit windows on the far shore reflect in long streaks across the water. The boats and moorings fade into shadow, so the clearest views come in daylight.

What is the weather like in Woods Hole?

January averages highs of 4°C (39°F) and lows of -4°C (25°F) in Woods Hole, while July averages highs of 26°C (79°F) and lows of 18°C (64°F), according to NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals.

Source: Marine Biological Laboratory