Cap'n Fish's operates the cleanest fleet on the coast of Maine, if you are as concerned about the environment as we are, choose Cap'n Fish's for your Puffin's Cruise – the only vessel that is Tier 2 compliant.
With new power plants installed for the 2012 season will provide immediate air quality benefits, reducing ozone precursors (NOx + VOC) & particulate matter by 1 ton per year, powered by two new Tier 2 compliant 4- stroke diesel engines that achieve immediate emission reductions beyond what is required by current regulations. Our goal is to reduce diesel emissions from our vessel to benefit the air quality for a better tomorrow.
Our vessel is powered by modern 4 cycle diesel engines designed to run clean, provinding a smokeless fume free ride that is environment friendly.
PUFFINS AND MORE
Cap'n Fish's offers a puffin safari that covers over twice the coastline of any other national audubon narrated puffin cruise. On a Cap'n Fish's Cruise, we see lighthouses; Brunt Island, Ram Island, and Pemaquid Lighthouse. In addition to passing by Spruce Point, Ocean Point, Fishermans Island, Squirrel Island, Seal Rocks, Boothbays Outer Islands and more.
STABLE RIDE
Cap'n Fish's offer the most stable riding ships to cruise on as they are the largest vessels to cruise to Eastern Egg Rock.
VESSEL SPEED
Cap'n Fish's has the newest, most modern, and fastest vessels to cruise on.
YOUR COMFORT
Cap'n Fish's fleet features climate controlled main salons,with tables and comfortable chairs, upper deck chairs are individual padded seats not hard benches.
CAPTAINS & CREW
Cap'n Fish's onboard marine biologists & naturalists have a vast knowledge of the marine life found on the gulf of Maine and narration is done by National Audubon Directors.
BOOTHBAY HARBOR
There is more to do before or after the cruise when coming to Boothbay Harbor to see the puffins such as: The Botanical Gardens, Golfing, Shopping, Dining, Theater, Aquarium, and much more than other depature points.
THE ORIGINAL
Cap'n Fish's was the first and the original cruise to see puffins on the midcoast.
Puffins are cool! With those big colorful beaks, dark soulful eyes & a penguin-like appearance, it's hard not to like them. Puffins can typically be found in the very chilly waters of the North Atlantic, in places like Iceland and Norway. Lucky for us then that not far from Boothbay Harbor is the southernmost Atlantic Puffin colony in all of North America – Eastern Egg Rock.
In Maine, Puffins are rare, and are actually listed as a Threatened Species. On Eastern Egg Rock, however, there are about 90 nesting pairs, along with perhaps a thousand pairs of Terns and other unusual seabirds. During the summertime, Puffins come ashore to raise their young, and the female lays her egg in a crevice under the tumble of boulders that line the shoreline of Eastern Egg Rock Once the chicks are full grown – usually by mid-August – all the Puffins leave their nesting island and fly out to sea to spend the winter. And they don't come back to land til next April.
ABOUT THE TOUR
A Puffin-watching cruise is kind of like an ocean-going treasure hunt… you just never know what's going to show up! As we travel through Boothbay Harbor and search for all the marvelous sea creatures which call this area their home, seals often surface near the boat, or can be found sunning themselves on the rocks. A loon flies by. A Minke Whale surprises everyone with its sheer size and bulk. And, of course there are lighthouses, which we know as permanent treasures here on the New England coast.
As the boat gets to Eastern Egg Rock, everyone is up and looking around for those pint-sized little Puffins. We scan the rocks and the skies, and then someone shouts, and lo and behold there is a group of Puffins sitting in the water, bobbing up and down, perhaps 50 or 60 feet from the boat. More fly by, and soon someone spots a bunch sitting on the granite boulders along shore.
We slowly circle the seven-acre island once or twice, and dozens of large Eider Ducks spring from the water into flight. Laughing Gulls cry out with their loud, cackling vocalizations. And more puffins and their funny little cousins, the Black Guillemots, whiz past us, going about 40 miles an hour.
When its time to start back, the excitement on the boat is still high. Success! We saw a bird that very few Mainers have ever seen – the ocean-going, charismatic Atlantic Puffin…
"Captain Fish's puffin cruises are wonderful experiences for many reasons, not the least of which is the terrific scenery and the miles of coastline between Boothbay Harbor and Eastern Egg Rock. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the trip is that since the boat travels in deep waters the opportunity to see unusual wildlife like a minke whale or maybe even a finback whale is always there, in addition to offshore species of birds like northern gannets and petrels. But the real treat is in seeing the busy and exciting colony of Atlantic Puffins at their southernmost nesting island in all of North America. National Audubon Society is proud of the relationship we've had with the Fish family in collaborating on these eco-tourism cruises ever since the puffins were restored to Eastern Egg Rock, back in the 1980's, and we've been able to serve tens of thousands of people since then on these wildlife explorations."
~ Peter Salmansohn, Education Coordinator, Seabird Restoration Program
"The puffin watching trip to Eastern Egg Rock with Captain Fish aboard the Island Lady is a delightful and informed wildlife watching experience. Audubon is proud to have our naturalists on board to provide passengers with insight into the lives of puffins and other Maine seabirds. "
~ Stephen Kress, Director, Project Puffin
To learn more about the amazing puffins, visit Audubon' Project Puffin Visitor Center
PRICES AND SCHEDULE
See at first hand the National Audubon Society's success in reestablishing a Puffin Colony on Eastern Egg Rock. Truly a magnificent "Seafari" for all nature lovers with seals, blue heron, an occasional whale and other coastal wildlife along the way.
June - wednesday 12th,
10 AM
June - wednesday 19th,
10 AM
June - tuesday 25th,
10 AM
July - Late August -
Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays @ 10:00am,
tuesdays @ 1:00 pm
