We had to get up at O’Dark Thirty, as my wife calls it, for a two hour drive back down the coast to Boothbay Harbor on Day 6 of our vacation. Would it be worth it? We would soon find out!
(Click on pictures to enlarge)
We arrived in plenty of time to get a good parking spot and find our cruise. It had been a long time coming; but today we were embarking on a four hour Puffin and Whale watch cruise!
We headed out of the Harbor on a cool but beautiful morning into the Atlantic Ocean. An added bonus was getting to see some of the many Lighthouses along the way. The first was the Burnt Island Light Station.
Next was the Ram Island Light Station
Lastly, the Pemaquid Lighthouse
They had the front roped off until we arrived at our destination. We were sitting right by it and poised to be first out when permission was given to go to the front deck.
Alas, we approach the Island known as Eatern Egg Rock!
Ahoy Matey! There be Puffins!
What is a Puffin you say? Why, it is a bird you silly Goose! Alright, lets dive deeper...
From Wiki:
The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin, are found in the northeastern Pacific.
On land, it has the typical upright stance of an auk. At sea, it swims on the surface and feeds on zooplankton, small fish, and crabs, which it catches by diving underwater, using its wings for propulsion.
This puffin has a black crown and back, light grey cheek patches, and a white body and underparts. Its broad, boldly marked red-and-black beak and orange legs contrast with its plumage.
The Atlantic puffin is a species of seabird in the order Charadriiformes. It is in the auk family, Alcidae, which includes the guillemots, typical auks, murrelets, auklets, puffins, and the razorbill. (Note: Most of these were present on the Island)
The Atlantic puffin is sturdily built with a thick-set neck and short wings and tail. It is 28 to 30 cm (11 to 12 in) in length from the tip of its stout bill to its blunt-ended tail. Its wingspan is 47 to 63 cm (19 to 25 in) and on land it stands about 20 cm (8 in) high. The male is generally slightly larger than the female, but they are coloured alike.
Seeing Puffins was a thrill, but seeing some of the “relations” was a nice added bonus!
The boat slowly cruised around for about a half hour giving everyone on the boat plenty of opportunity to see the many Puffins!
This had been a great cruise thus far and I highly recommend Cap'n Fish's Cruises, Boothbay Harbor, Maine. At the time of our visit, they were the only ones offering both Puffin and Whale Cruise on the same tour. Most were one or the other.
https://www.boothbayboattrips.com/cruises/whale-puffin-combo/
Alright, let’s keep cruising as we go looking for whales!
We cruised for about 10 minutes when a Fin Whale was spotted.
As you can see from my collage above, you generally get bits of the whale. It is a rare moment when they come flying out of the ocean like you see on TV. The Fin Whale is the second largest animal on earth behind the Blue Whale. You do not see the tail come out of the water like you do with Humpbacks and other whales because it is too big to lift it’s tail out of the water.
From Wiki:
The fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), also known as the finback whale or common rorqual, is a species of baleen whale and the second-longest cetacean after the blue whale. The biggest individual reportedly measured 26–27.3 m (85–90 ft) in length, with a maximum recorded weight of 65.5 to 120 tonnes (72.2 to 132.3 short tons; 64.5 to 118.1 long tons). The fin whale's body is long, slender, and brownish-gray in color, with a paler underside to appear less conspicuous from below
Now my prized picture of the day was one that you might want to click and enlarge. When I really stared at this one for a minute noticing first the eye and then the mouth open and teeth. Way cool!
It is really hard to find them and get a captured moment like this. Whales go down and you never know where they will come up!
We only saw one whale today, which is better than none. We cruised back past all the Lighthouses and bid our farewell to the water and hello to lunch!
I had a Lobster Roll at Kaler’s and they had a chowder sampler where we got to try three kinds of chowder. Yum. BTW way, that pic was from earlier in the day. When we got out there were no spots and people everywhere!
We walked around town and went in a few shops before heading back to our AIRBNB on Verona Island. But, just after the bridge over to the Island in Bucksport, is the Buck Cemetery.
Buck Cemetery's most famous resident is Bucksport founder, Colonel Buck.
Legend has it that Colonel Buck condemned a so-called "witch" to burn at the stake - an ordeal which only her leg survived. So a curse was called down upon Buck by the poor victim's deformed son, who proclaimed that Buck's tomb would bear the mark of the witch's foot for all eternity. And so it does. Buck's heirs twice tried replacing the tombstone to rid it of the accursed stain, but to no avail. It just keeps coming back!
Incidentally, if you are ever in Maine, don’t be looking for Kroger, Food City or Publix - we never saw any! But we did see several Hannaford’s around Maine in our travels. We popped in for some breakfast Muffins and such to take back to the AIRBNB.
We were welcomed back by a very concerned Deer upon our arrival!
And so went Day 6 of our vacation!
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