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Every birder should visit Machias Seal Island at least once. (The author has been eight times.). In recent years, the number of people allowed to land on the island has been severely restricted.  Despite this, you will see the birds at very close range both on the rocks and in the water.

What Do You See
You can observe at very close range breeding: Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Common Tern, and Arctic Tern. Common Murres. Leach's Storm-petrel breeds on the island, but is not usually seen because they enter and leave the nesting burrow at night. A few pairs of Common Eiders breed on the island.

As the boat approaches the island, you will all these birds on the water and flying into the island. You may also see Manx, Sooty, and Greater Shearwater, Black Guillemot, Northern Gannet on the boat trip to the island.

Location:
Machias Seal Island is a 15 acre island in the Bay of Fundy off the coast of Maine and just south of Grand Manan. See the map.(large graphic loads slowly). Visitors can stay in Maine at Machias. Machias is about an hour drive north of Ellsworth, Maine.

When To Visit
The best time to visit is between the middle of June and the middle of July. The Puffins can be on the island from early June and immature Puffins are seen in the water around the island until mid August.

Getting There
A visit takes about half a day. There is plenty of other birding in the area to fill the rest of the day or you can drive back to Boston after the trip. The trip is appropriate for children old enough to remain quiet in a blind for 20 minutes and non-birding adults.

A visit requires a 45 minutes to 2 hour boat trip depending on port of departure. . The boat trip can cause motion sickness in the unprepared. If any trip is worth enduring seasickness, it is this one. If you suffer from sea sickness consider taking the shortest trip from Cutler, ME.

Trips are sometimes cancelled because of weather conditions and landing on the island is dependent on conditions as well.

Landing On The Island
Landings and actual visits to Machias Seal Island during the nesting season are restricted, as the island is designated a migratory bird sanctuary and is managed by US and Canadian authorities.

In order to protect the nesting seabird colony from excessive disturbance, visits on the island are limited to a selected number of days during the season, and only a limited number of visitors are permitted ashore on any day. Visitors must stay in designated areas and spend no more than three hours in a day.

Three tour operators are licensed to conduct landing tours to the island, an access schedule is issued every year which allocates the dates on which island landings will be permitted. The tour operators then book their landing tours based on that schedule.

Tours to the island are conducted daily (weather permitting) throughout the nesting season . These tours bring visitors to the waters surrounding the island where all the nesting species can be easily observed from the deck, and close range viewing of hundreds, if not thousands, of puffins can be enjoyed.

Special landing tours are offered on the selected dates, with the limited spaces filling up on a first come first served basis. Advance reservations for landing tours are generally necessary and recomended for all tours. A full boat load of passengers participant in landing tours, with one group going ashore while the rest participate in a tour on the waters close by the island.

It is not necessary to go ashore to see the many birds as on most days the viewing is just as good if not better on the water as it is on land.

Landing is always dependant on calm seas, and is not appropriate for all visitors because of the potentially hazardous conditions at the landing area on the shoreline. Many visitors are much more comfortable enjoying the birding out on the water, and leaving the landing experience to the more adventurous.

See visiting the island for more information on landing conditions.

Photographers will want to land on the island and spend time in one or two of the blinds. Thousands if not millions of photographs have been taken of these Puffins. If you are an amateur photorapher or if this is your first trip, consider leaving the camera at home and just enjoying the birds.

Handicapped Birders
Landing on the island is not feasible for those in wheelchairs. As with the whale watching boats in the Boston area, wheelchairs cannot just roll onto the boat. According to Captain Andrew Patterson, wheelchairs have been accomodated on past trips using "Yankee Ingenuity." Ask the individual captain about accomodations for wheelchairs on the boat.

Captains
Three captains provide boat service to the island. Two leave from the Maine and one from Grand Manan. Reservations are required. Cost is from $100 per person. There are no customs officials on either end.

Departure times vary with the tide so be sure to call the captain 1-2 days ahead and check on the departure time.

Where To Stay
The following information provided by Captain Andrew Patterson and times are to drive to Cutler Departure Point. The Jonesport Departure point is closer to the town of Machias, but further from the island.

Bed & Breakfasts
Riverside Inn (East Machias) 207-255-4134 Beautifully designed B&B on the E. Machias River 15-20 minute drive

Captain Cates Bed & Breakfast www.captaincates.com (Machiasport) 207-255-8812 Lovely B&B on the Machias River 30 minute drive

Micmac Farm Guesthouses & Gardner House www.micmacfarm.com (Machiasport) 207-255-3008 Secluded cabins and B&B style guestroom on Machias River 30 minute drive

Peacock House (Lubec) 207-733-2403 Attractive quiet B&B;Located east of Cutler - near Campobello Is. 30 minute drive

Home Port Inn (Lubec) 207-733-2077 Comfortable B&B and restaurant

Little River Lodge (Cutler) 207-259-4437 B&B overlooking the harbor- 5 minute walk to boat ramp- only lodging in Cutler (seasonal - opens late May)


Motels
Bluebird Motel (Machias) 207-255-3332 Clean and comfortable local motel 25-30 minute drive

Margaretta Motel (Machias) 207-255-6671 Reasonably priced - located just east of town
Machias Motor Inn (Machias) 207-255-4861 In town located on Machias River - next to Helens Restaurant

Eastland Motel (Lubec) 207-733-5501 Located on Rt. 189 on the outskirts of Lubec 20 minute drive

Blueberry Patch Motel & Cabins (Jonesboro) 207-434-5411 Located on Route One - restaurant next door 45 minute drive

Campgrounds
Cobscook Bay State Park (Edmunds) 207-726-4412 45 minute drive

Sunset Point Campground (Lubec) 207-733-2150 30 minute drive

South Bay Campground (Lubec) 877-733-1037 (toll free) 207-733-1037 http://www.nemaine.com/southbay/ 30 minute drive

Sunkhaze Campground (Jonesboro) 207-434-2542 45 minute drive

Herring Cove Provincial Park (Campobello) 506-752-7010 Located on Campobello Island, New Brunswick 45 minute drive


Reference
A Birders Guide To Maine by Elizabeth C. Pierson, Jan Erik Pierson, and Peter D. Vickery Down East Books Camden, Maine

 On the Visit Seabird Breeding Colonies page, it states, "On the coast of Maine north of Bar Harbor in an area referred to as "Down East" by natives, is the small town of Machias. From here you can take a boat to the Puffin and seabird colonies on Machias Seal Island. You can also reach the island from Canada."
 
There are no boat trips from the town of Machias (although it is a good central location for folks visiting the area, as it has choices of motels and restaurants, shopping, etc.) Our seabird watching tours to MSI leave from the town of Cutler, a small picturesque lobster fishing village about a 30 minute drive from Machias.
 
Another boat trip to Machias Seal Island is indeed available from Canada.. specifically, from the fishing village of Seal Cove on Grand Manan Island.
 
-- On the Machias Seal Island main page it states, "You can observe at very close range breeding: Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Common Tern, and Arctic Tern. Common Murres while not nesting or nesting in small numbers on the island are often seen sitting on the rocks. Leach's Storm-petrel breeds on the island, but is not usually seen because they enter and leave the nesting burrow at night. A few pairs of Common Eiders breed on the island."
 
In recent seasons, there have been several hundred Common Murres nesting and breeding on the island, their numbers gradually increasing since their arrival about ten years ago. As with the Puffins and Razorbills, sightings of Murres is practically guaranteed.
 
Also, the estimated population of Common Eiders is 80-100 nesting pairs.
 
The page also states, "When to Visit -- The best time to visit is between the middle of June and the middle of July. The Puffins can be on the island from early June and immature Puffins are seen in the water around the island until mid August."
 
Puffins are actually on the island beginning in mid-May. The "best" time to visit is highly subjective.. anytime from late May until mid August will provide an excellent opportunity to see all of the seabirds.. it's really the weather of the day which makes or breaks the trip.
 
Further down the page it states, "Where To Stay -- The following information provided by Captain Andrew Patterson and times are to drive to Cutler Departure Point. The Jonesport Departure point is closer to the town of Machias, but further from the island."
 
In all fairness, the Jonesport departure point is actually further (slightly) from Machias than our departure point in Cutler. This can be confirmed using any accurate map of the area. This makes our location a bit more convenient for folks staying in Machias as well our much closer location to the island itself (a shorter boat ride, as is mentioned on your site).
 
-- Under the Where To Stay section, there are various outdated listings or broken links for the B&B's, Motels and Campgrounds categories. Feel free to use the up to date lodging information on our website:
 
http://www.boldcoast.com/lodging.htm
 
-- On the Visiting Machias Seal Island page it states, "At high tide passengers disembark from a rowboat and are assisted by coastguard onto the old loading ramp. At lower tides, the rowboat pulls up to the rocks on the left and passengers must climb over algae covered rocks and walk across a plank to the loading ramp. This is not for the faint of heart."
 
All landings on the island are now carried out by a larger outboard powered skiff (not a rowboat), which can land 4-8 tour participants at a time. There is also a newly constructed concrete ramp and walkway, which replaced the old steel covered ramp with rails that is shown on the page.
 
Visitors now access the island either by stepping out of the skiff directly on to the concrete ramp, or occasionally at low tide, they will step out of the skiff on to the rocky shoreline and walk up a path with handrails across flat and gently sloping ledges. The wooden plank across the gully is no longer used (thank goodness).
 
There are now additional wooden boardwalks on the island.. one boardwalk goes from the landing area up to the visitor patio and there are now two boardwalks out to the two sets of visitor blinds. This now reduces the chances of visitors accidentally damaging nests or trampling young chicks.
 
-- The Puffins, Razorbills and Murres page states, "Approximately 1000 pair of Atlantic Puffins nest on Machias Seal Island."
 
The number of nesting Puffins is actually several thousand pairs.. the number of nesting Razorbills is at least a thousand pairs as well.
 
-- On the Machias Seal Island Map page it states, "Notice that Jonesboro is closer to the town of Machias where you will probably be staying, but further from Machias Seal Island. Cutler, Maine is a long drive early in the morning, but the boat trip is shorter."
 
I believe this is a typo and a reference to Jonesport and not Jonesboro.. again, Jonesport is a slightly further drive from Machias than Cutler is, and departing from Jonesport to the island is a much longer boat trip than from Cutler (9 1/2 nautical miles versus 22 nautical miles).
 
Lastly, I noticed a reference to the Brookline Bird Club and Ida Giriunas.. you might be interested to know that we have provided tour services for this group for the past several years and Ida has been in touch already to schedule a club outing for 2010.
 
Those are the corrections that I noticed, but it's possible there may be others. Feel free to refer to our website to confirm any additional information, or let me know if you have any questions. Hope the information I have provided is helpful.. good luck with your site,
 
Captain Andrew Patterson
BOLD COAST CHARTER CO.
PO Box 364 Cutler, ME 04626
207-259-4484
info@boldcoast.com
http://www.boldcoast.com