I Saw Some Puffins
posted by on July 3, 2026
Yesterday, I got to see some puffins in person for the first time ever!
Eastern Egg Rock Island is a 7-acre rock that sticks up to 20ft out above sea level, and it has been designated a protected habitat for puffins since 1973, thanks to the National Audoban’s Project Puffin. It is the furthest point south where Atlantic Puffins breed in North America.
Visiting Port Clyde that morning for breakfast, we went to the herring gut coastal science center to see the brand new touch tank that had been installed. They had a room with several tanks for horseshoe crabs, sea urchins, a flounder, a jackknife clam, and a calico lobster1. It was maybe the most lethal touch tank area I’ve ever seen2. We spoke with the head of the center, Sally, who mentioned that she had heard a rumor that there might already be puffins this year on Eastern Egg Rock Island. Normally, “they don’t arrive until July,” but it just-barely being July and having heard such a promising rumor, we had to check it out.
The mouth of the St. George river has hundreds, maybe thousands, of lobster traps in it that are checked…