Machias Seal Island / Three Northern Gannets
Machias Seal Island is home to thousands of Atlantic puffins, razorbills, common murres, and Atlantic terns. During my visit on June 9, 2026, I observed three northern gannets away from their established gannet colony: one lone bird, and a pair actively carrying seaweed, and building a nest.
I left the island with more questions than answers. Why where these gannets here? Will they return next season? I hope to better understand these observations after meeting with biologist and through continued observation.
Halfway Rock Seals / A Maine Rookery Sanctuary
Halfway Rock is one of Maine’s seal rookeries — a place where harbor and grey seals haul out to rest, raise pups —in rough seas, wind and fog.
Fresh fish clutched in gulls’s beak, the gentle push of my electric Seal Mobile dingy through the water, and rookery rocky outcrop ahead — this is Halfway Rock. Also known as Seal Rock to locals, it’s where seals gather to rest, raise their pups, and watch the tide rise and fall.
Halfway Rock is more than stone and seaweed. It’s a sanctuary where seals raise their young, seabirds nest, and tides weave life together. Watching this wild community reveals timeless patterns of life that connect the wild and us.
Stories of the wild— ocean, forest, and air.
