Going to the Puffins
Trip Start
Jun 20, 2009
1
8
13
Trip End
Jul 05, 2009
Machias Seal Island Bird Sanctuary,
New Brunswick,
Canada
Friday, June 26, 2009
We drove to Seal Cove and had to be there by 6:45 AM sharp as the boat was leaving at 7 and we quickly found out why - the boat had to leave before the tide got to low. We were on a lobster boat that had be fitted with benches and had just been taken out of use for lobstering earlier that week.
There were about 15 people on the trip, including a couple from St Louis! Couldn't believe it that someone from back home would be on the boat! We had a nice chat but they were serious birders and wanted to watch for all kinds of birds as we traveled to the island. It was kind of hard to see much as it was foggy again - the captain used GPS and radar to get us there and wasn't sure we would be able to land because of the tide.
The captain was good and was able to get us close enough to anchor the boat and then take us ashore four at a time in a the skif which was being towed behind us on the entire trip. We had to step out onto seaweed and hope not to slip into the water but we all made it.
Then we were taken to the blinds - sort of like a duck blind where we spent the next hour. They were putting 8 people to a blind which was a little tight for me so we were lucky to get into one with one other couple. Then we open these little windows and wait and then...there they are - the puffins - up close and personal!
You could hear them in their burrows - it sounded like a chainsaw. They were never really still, always hopping around and not making any noise. At times I would swear they were just staring at us staring at them. They even landed on the roof of the blind and you could hear them running back and forth - which made us all laugh. There were also razorbills - which I wasn't familar with but were also pretty and very affectionate with each other.
There were supposed to be terns there to but they have abandoned the island but no one knows why and they are trying to bring them back because provide protection for the baby puffins.
There is also a manned lighthouse there - the only one on the eastern seaboard. The island is only about a mile long and half mile wide and it's more or less a rock but it's ownership is disputed by the Canadian and American government - the Canadians have it and the American's want it - more for the fishing rights around it than anything. So the Canadians keep a lighthouse keeper there all the time - they know if they don't have someone there the American's will come and take it! So the lighthouse keeper is there 28 days at time, or more if the weather is bad. They are taken on and off the island by helicopter and if it's foggy they can't leave until it clears - sometimes 28 days extends out to 40 days or more.
The tide was coming in and there was a narrow window of time to get us off the island - a bit treacherous as the tide was up and the wind was blowing so the captain had to come in between waves and between two rock outcroppings - I have to say I admire how he did it!
Only 25 people a day are allowed on the island and only for a few months out of the year - so we both know what truly special experience it was!
After we left Machias the captain swung by a very small island, ok it was more like a big rock - actually it was called North Rock and the seals lived there - that was fun! To see them slide into the sea and swim out to take a look at us - there were Harbour seals and Grey Seals - I like the faces of the Habour seals - they look like puppy faces.
I slept on the way back - which surprised me but the gentle rocking of the boat put me right to sleep! And I got a sunburn on my face because I was laying on a bench in the back of the boat - lesson - put on sunscreen even if it is a cloudy day!
