Nature and Ecology

An Exciting, but Potentially Troubling, First Sighting Gray Whales were once common in New England waters – photo courtesy of New England Aquarium The New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life aerial transect research team recorded a grey whale feeding 30 miles off of Nantucket this week, the first time this species has…

The Joys of Tide Pooling and Beach Combing with Melanie Collins This winter we’re posting a series of interviews with Portland Paddle guides, each one focused on a specific topic related to paddling the Maine coast. Today we’re sharing a conversation with Melanie Collins about the intertidal zone! Melanie is a registered Maine guide, ACA…

All of us at Portland Paddle love seals, and especially our flippered friends in Casco Bay who we encounter regularly.  We shared an introduction to the types of seals we see while paddling in our Guide to the Seals of Maine last year, but there’s a lot more to cover. In this post we’ll share…

  A few years ago we described some of the birds we see most often while paddling in our post titled “Seabirds to Spot While Paddling the Maine Coast.” But we only scratched the surface, and we left out some of the species that we most enjoy observing. So we’re following up with this post…

STEEELLLLAAAAAA! This was the cry that P2 staff members Eric, Mariah, and Megan let out just a few weeks ago when they, along with hundreds of other bird enthusiasts, traveled to the towns of Arrowsic and Georgetown in Maine’s Southern Midcoast, in hopes of finding a rare visitor who is taking the birding world by…

A Paddler’s Guide to the Seals of Maine A closer look at the most commonly spotted marine mammal on the Maine coast If you’ve been on the ocean in Maine, whether by paddle, oars, motor, or sail, you’ve probably spotted at least one seal. But did you know that Maine is home to four different…

It’s easy to mistake several marine creatures commonly found in Casco Bay for the famously frightening sharks that visit our waters far less frequently While you may have heard about sightings of great white sharks in Maine, the likelihood of seeing one inside Casco Bay is very slim. In fact, none of Portland Paddle’s guides…

When you’re kayaking on the coast of Maine, you won’t be the only one cruising around out there. You’ll be sharing that water with boaters, commuter ferries, fellow paddlers, and a whole lot of seabirds. Some of those birds are easy-going floaters and others dive talons-first into the sea to pluck out a meal. Some,…