Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!
When visiting Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in Maine, there are lots of sights to see in Frenchman Bay and beyond. Marine wildlife, historic lighthouses and wildlife refuges are plentiful in the waters off the coast. The only way to see some of these things is by boat.
When we visited in 2007, we took a fun, friendly and educational ride on Lulu Lobster Boat. We went out with Captain John on Lulu on a beautiful day in May. Captain John and his first mate kept us entertained with lore about the area, the seals we visited at Egg Rock and lobster fishing.
Egg Rock Light , built in 1875, is one of coastal Maine’s architecturally unique lighthouses, with a square tower projecting through the square keeper’s house. Located on Egg Rock, midway between Mount Desert Island and the Schoodic Peninsula, it is still an active aid to navigation.
The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Egg Rock Light Station in 1988. The US Fish and Wildlife Service owns the island and light. It is a bird sanctuary and not open to the public.
Also in 2007, we took a whale & puffin tour with the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company. The tour began off the shores of the Petit Manan Lighthouse. Built in 1855, this light remains an active signal, automated and solar-powered. The island it sits on is a wildlife refuge with an active breeding colony of puffins. It is not open to the public.
Somewhere on our way to the next lighthouse, we saw a Humpback whale. Whales arrive in Maine towards the end of April and migrate south to warmer waters in October.
Mount Desert Light is on an island 18 miles south of Bar Harbor. Built in 1847, the NPS added it to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The College of the Atlantic manages the station and uses it as a research station for their work on finback and humpback whales.
Acadia Posts:
Location: Mount Desert Island, Frenchman Bay
Designation: National Park
Date designated/established: Lights added to NRHP in 1987 & 1988
Date of my visit: May 2007
You must be logged in to post a comment.