Marlo Casabar

I finally made it to photograph the nesting birds at Machias Seal Island. There are only two tour companies that are allowed on the Machias Seal Island. Bookings go fast, so you have to be ready on the day the tours are available. The US company's website is terrible. It only allows you to book one day at a time. Which is fine, but when I went that year a storm caused the tour to be cancelled. Not their fault, but it was a ruined trip. The next year, I booked with Sea Watch Tours for two nights - just in case the weather caused another cancellation. The boat comes out of Grand Manan Island, so I flew into Bangor, Maine and drove to pick up the ferry from Blacks Harbour.

Once you get to the island, you are escorted to the blinds, You aren't allowed to wander from the guided path - this is to protect the birds. The blinds are small. You could easily photograph birds with a 70-200mm lens because they are right up next to the blinds. But, if you decided to rent a longer lens, make sure it is small enough to fit into the tight blind area. I rented the Canon 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L.


Sea Watch Tours https://tinyurl.com/puffintours
Canon 100-500 https://tinyurl.com/Canon100-500