Phil Scott Photography

About 14 miles off the coast of Northern Maine, not far from Candian waters, is an 18 acre rocky island called Machias Seal Island. Apparently the US says the island is ours and charges the companies that ferry naturalists and birders through the cold Atlantic Ocean to visit the island a landing fee and requires them to have special permits. OK, that all makes sense, however you soon realize that Canada thinks the island belkongs to them and they're so sure about ti that they built a giant lighthouse, helipad and living quarters for the two people who rotate onto the island.

The great news in all this disagreement is that the colony of roughly 3,000 puffins that call the island home and the 2,000 others that come to party there are well protected and watched over. I got up at 4:00AM in Winter Harbor in the second week of August and slipped out for the 1.5 hour drive up to Jonesport where the Norton Family has been taking people to visit the island for years. You go ashore in a little launch they tow in their wake.

They couldn't have been nicer and it's a trip everyone should get to take some time. Here are a few pictures of the inhabitants.