Tour Description:
Join us for an adventure out into Frenchman Bay and the Gulf of Maine to see the most sought-after iconic symbols of Maine: Puffins and Lighthouses! Ride aboard state-of-the art catamarans with professional and knowledgeable naturalists and crew to see three island lighthouses, including Petit Manan, the second tallest lighthouse in Maine! The tour begins in Frenchman Bay and visits Egg Rock which is home to the first lighthouse of the tour and a nesting colony of cormorants and gulls. Be on the look out for seals and eagles at Egg Rock! This island is part of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge!

After visiting Egg Rock, the boat will pick up speed and head out to an offshore island called Petit Manan. This location, another National Wildlife Refuge island, is home to a nesting colony of Atlantic puffins! See not only puffins, but razorbills, guillemots, as well as common and Arctic terns! We might also have a chance to talk with the researchers based on the island! The tour then stops by Schoodic Island in search of eagles and other wildlife. The boat then takes a scenic ride along Schoodic Peninsula to view the shoreline of Acadia National Park and visit Winter Harbor Light. Keep an eye out for ospreys and harbor porpoise or watch lobstermen haul up their traps. After a cruise through the Porcupine Islands on Frenchman Bay, the boat then returns back to Bar Harbor.

Puffins are seasonal and seen on nesting islands from May to mid-August. Binoculars and/or long camera zoom lens is highly recommended as puffins are small seabirds. They also help for seeing other wildlife, such as seals and eagles.