FIN BACK WHALES

I'm going to be sick!
see all photos »

Did you know that the fin back whale is the second largest mammal in the world? Today, we were close enough to touch them.

We took a whale watching cruise out of Bar Harbor and had an awesome day. Despite some early sea weariness -- everyone recovered and had a great day. We had started out in an upper deck cabin of a big three deck catamaran. I think the indoors were not doing anyone any good -- once we moved outdoors to the open air - the excitment started to build and everyone had a better day.

Look, Look, WHALE!

The cat at speed
see all photos »

We got to see lots of stuff. Whole bunches of puffins, maybe five different varieities. Did you know that a baby puffin is born on land but goes directly to the water and doesnt' touch land again for 3 to 5 years when it is ready to nest on it's own. That's a long time in the ocean.

We also saw a few light houses (thinking of you Riemers). And then went about 30 miles out to sea where we caught site of our first set of whales.

We found some fin back whales after about an hour of searching around. We chased around after this set for quite awhile. They stay on top for 10-15 minutes and then diver for 10 to 20 minutes. The fin back whale is the second largest animal on earth -- and it did not dissappoint! We were very close and got some really great looks. Apparently, the boat company onlys sees fin backs a few times a season and when the do see them they do not usually get a chance to see them "fluke" (when the go to dive really deep they put their back fins way up in the air). Today we got three great "Flukes" and it was really cool. I think the staff and the "Naturalist Team" on board were more excited than the passengers. So apparently, what we saw today was a BIG treat. I do know that we really enjoyed the day and stayed out way longer than the promised four hour tour.

Let's go get some air, before its to late
see all photos »

One of the great parts of the tour was the level of knowledge the naturalist team had. They were part of a research team from Allied Research and they were there to document as much of the sighting as they could. This was only the third tour of the season for the boat company and I think everyone was "in to" seeing as much as possible.

After the boat tour, we shopped in bar harbor for some souvenirs. I think both girls were happy with what they found as a take home and the parents were glad to get out of there without having to remortgage the house. What a tourist trap down town bar harbor is.

Man its cold out here!
see all photos »

After shopping we headed back to the campground. We just enjoyed some down time. K/ worked on her science project for school. R/ tried her hand at riding her two wheeler bike (I think we have a ways to go there). Then while dad and R/ started the fire for dinner, K/ made some fire starters for our next camping trips (the cool part of this project is melting down candles and crayons to wax coat the fire starter and make it water proof).

We had a great dinner cooked over the fire and enjoyed some story telling at the end. The girls are both into hearing any story about their parents. Tonights headline was the time Mom spent the night on a small cabin cruiser anchored off Fire Island in a MAJOR hurricane (Hurricane Bell 78? Class 5, center of storm Fire Island).

Desert Island
see all photos »

Tomorrow is our last night in Maine. We have had a lot of fun and done a lot of things -- but there is still a ton more we have not done -- I don't think we have scratched the surface. We did not even begin to do any of the touristy stuff. Most places were only just opening this weekend and were not even options for mos of our time here. Just as well we because we had enough to do without the hoopla of the tourist traps.