Outdoors
The BDN outdoors section brings readers into the woods, waters and wild places of Maine. It features stories on hunting, fishing, wildlife, conservation and recreation, told by people who live these experiences. This section emphasizes hands-on knowledge, field reports, issues, trends and the traditions that define life outside in Maine. Read more Outdoors stories here.
For bird lovers, few Maine experiences are more difficult to book than a trip to Machias Seal Island.
Bold Coast Charter Co. is the only tour operator in the United States permitted to bring visitors ashore on Machias Seal Island. Located about 10 miles off Cutler Harbor, the 15-acre island is home to the largest Atlantic puffin colony on the Maine coast.
The following video was filmed by R. Riley Smith during her Aug. 1 visit. It offers a close-up look at puffins and other seabirds from the island’s observation blinds. Reservations are announced in December and typically open in March, with many dates filling within hours because of limited availability.
Trips run from late May through mid-August and last about five hours, including an hourlong boat ride each way aboard the Barbara Frost, a custom-built 40-foot U.S. Coast Guard-inspected passenger vessel.
Machias Seal Island is protected as a bird sanctuary by U.S. and Canadian wildlife agencies and is home to a staffed lighthouse maintained by the Canadian Coast Guard. The rocky outpost has long been the subject of a territorial dispute, with both the United States and Canada claiming sovereignty.
Each summer, roughly 5,000 Atlantic puffins nest there alongside about 4,000 razorbills, 800 common murres, 800 Arctic terns and 200 common eiders. Black guillemots and common terns are also present.
Whether passengers can go ashore depends entirely on weather and sea conditions. When conditions cooperate, they transfer from the tour boat into a large outboard-powered skiff before stepping onto the rocky shoreline.
From there, small observation blinds accommodating three or four people provide up-close views of the nesting seabirds. Puffins are often just 3 to 6 feet away, creating excellent opportunities for wildlife photography.
Unlike many birds, puffins do not build exposed nests. Instead, they dig burrows into the turf or nest beneath rocks. Their chicks remain hidden underground for most of the season to avoid predators, making sightings of young birds especially rare.