I am about to offer some good advice, although I expect less than one percent of readers will take it.
Still, I feel obligated to tell you there are three big boat trips into the Gulf of Maine coming up. All are on Bar Harbor Whale Watch.
I’m a big fan of this business. They operate two of the biggest, fastest whale-watch boats in North America. Most people go out to see whales, but I go to see the birds.
It gets pretty awesome out there.
The Downeast Offshore Seabirds and Lighthouse Cruise leaves the pier on Saturday morning, July 19. This is the second time this special tour has been offered, and it’s going to be hard to top last year’s ride.
Multiple tour boats make daily trips to Maine’s Atlantic puffin colonies. This is the only cruise that will visit two colonies in one day.
The first stop of the 6.5-hour tour is Petit Manan, a puffin nesting island between Schoodic Point and Milbridge. Petit Manan also boasts the second tallest lighthouse in Maine.
From there, it’s full steam ahead to Machias Seal Island, Maine’s biggest offshore colony of puffins and their cousins, the razorbills and common murres.
The cruise then heads to Mount Desert Rock, Maine’s most remote lighthouse. The route crosses a huge swath of open ocean, where whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals gather. I’m expecting to spot a slew of unusual birds that have migrated north from the South Atlantic for the summer, and even from the Antarctic.
I’ll be co-leading this cruise with Zack Klyver. Zack has been chasing and identifying whales longer than most of the whales we’ll see have been alive. I’ve definitely been chasing seabirds longer than any of the birds out there have been alive. (Hint: the oldest puffin on record lived 41 years.)
Here’s my next suggestion: the Cashes Ledge Whale and Seabird Cruise. It’s a 12-hour voyage that visits one of the most unusual spots in the Gulf of Maine – an underwater mountain range that almost reaches the surface.
Cashes Ledge has recently been nominated as a National Marine Sanctuary. It lies 80 miles offshore, and its peaks are ridiculously shallow. The highest peak is only 27 feet underwater at low tide.
The turbulence around these undersea mountains makes them particularly attractive to sea life, and particularly dangerous to fishermen. Ground-fishing has been permanently banned here since 1998.
Few whale-watching boats could manage a day trip that far out, but the Bar Harbor Whale Watch catamarans can.
This ambitious cruise has only been tried once before. On Oct. 16, 2023, passengers observed a pod of nearly 100 bottlenose dolphins. I’ve never even seen them in the Gulf of Maine.
They also witnessed a pod of common dolphins – something I’ve only seen on one occasion.
The cruise spotted right whales, a critically endangered species, plus over a dozen whales of more common species, two breaching basking sharks and 350 gray seals.
Bird watchers on that October trip scored a whopping 51 species, including jaegers, puffins, terns, fulmars and gannets.
This year’s cruise is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 23. I expect the mix of birds to be different, but equally impressive. Yes, of course, I’ve already bought my tickets.
A third birding opportunity by boat is with Maine Audubon. Each year they take over the whale watch for a special pelagic seabird cruise. I try not to plan anything else for September until I know which day has been chosen. This year, it’s Sunday, Sept. 14.
This six-hour cruise leaves the dock at 6 a.m. Although whales are seen on virtually every trip, the voyage is dedicated to finding the unusual seabirds that gather in the Gulf of Maine late in summer.
Last year was sensational, with rare sightings of all three jaeger species. Pomarine, parasitic, and long-tailed jaegers nest in the Arctic. As winter approaches, some venture down here.
Maine Audubon charters the boat for this pelagic trip and handles the reservations. Registration opened July 7. Last year’s cruise was filled to capacity. The other two cruises are booked through Bar Harbor Whale Watch.
Most Mainers have only gazed at the Gulf of Maine from the shoreline – it’s a whole different world in the open ocean. Even a three-hour whale-watch cruise is enthralling.
These extended cruises are a grand adventure – so big, they only happen once a year.
Few readers will heed my advice, but I’m sure I won’t be the only avid birder who does all three.
