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Updates & News From Portland Paddle

Nature and Ecology

Seabirds to Spot While Paddling Coastal Maine

When you’re kayaking on the coast of Maine, you’ll be sharing the water not just with fellow paddlers, but a menagerie of wildlife, especially seabirds. Seabirds are birds that are adapted to marine environments, and spend much of their life foraging or breeding at sea. To help you get better acquainted with some of the…

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July 25, 2024

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 kinds of seals? Some of these blubbery creatures…

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July 18, 2024

Are there Sea Turtles in Maine?

These beautiful marine reptiles make frequent visits to the Maine Coast! By Melanie Collins  Have you ever asked yourself, “what is that giant, dark shape in the water below?” Maybe it was a shark or ocean sunfish passing underneath, or maybe you were just paddling over a sinking driftwood log. There are a myriad of…

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May 14, 2024

Endangered Gray Whale spotted in New England!

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…

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March 6, 2024

Discovering the Intertidal Zone

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…

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February 29, 2024

7 Things you can do to help Seals, and 7 Seal Facts you’ll want to know – with Whitney

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…

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February 15, 2024

STEEELLLAAAAA! – Birding and Kayaking in Maine’s Midcoast

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…

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March 1, 2023

Think You Spotted a Great White? Here’s What You Probably Saw

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…

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June 21, 2022