Further
offshore, the conditions were hazier and visibility was down considerably.
We did manage to see several whales though. Unfortunately, they aren't too
photogenic unless they actually come out of the water and do a ballet for
you - a very rare occurrence. Otherwise it's just pictures of gray shapes
that could have come from Loch Ness!! I can show you pictures of a fin or two,
even the blow-hole of a Fin Back whale (second largest in the world - a
baleen whale) but once you've seen one you've seen them all. We saw a couple
Fin Back and a few Minkes - one of the Fin Back breached right next to the
boat! You really can see whales on these tours - just not the whole thing at
one time! Pictured above is a Fin Back - about an 80 footer - and reasonably
close to the boat too.
The cruise was over at about 1 PM and I was a bit drowsy from the sea air, the sun, the wind and the motion sickness medication I had taken. In spite of that, I stopped at one of the trail access points and took a trip around Eagle Lake (in the middle of Mt Desert Island) on my bike - just to wake me up. In a six mile circuit, even though I ended up where I started, I'd swear the whole thing was uphill! Most of the bike trails in the park are on what are called "Carriage Roads" - that is, roads built for carriages in the early 1900s. All are well groomed but with most, there is some elevation change. The guide book described this ride as "Moderate" - I described it a killer! I suppose I'll sleep well tonight!
Puffins - I really wanted some close-up opportunities for Puffins. The woman at the Bar Harbor Whale Watch company gave me a couple names and a general location for some people who run Puffin tours. Her information was a couple years old, but I managed to track them through a couple internet searches and get a phone number or two. I talked to a guy north of here who takes photographers and birders out to one of the other colonies of puffins - and we can actually get on the island and spend some time there. My expectation was that we'd be able to wander the island - that was not quite right - more on that later. Puffins, as well as the rest of the Auk family, are much different from other birds you have seen - as you shall see!
Saturday, 06/28/03, Day 10. I got up early and went back to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse for some pics in the early, good light. That's about a 45 minute trip early in the morning and was there by 7:45. At about four hours from high tide, I had plenty of rocks to scramble on so tried some new (to me) angles. I see pictures of this lighthouse occasionally and always the picture is taken from west to east. I've not been able to access that side of the lighthouse (Gov't Property - No Trespassing - Etc) so all my pics are from east to west. That puts the morning light behind me, which is good. I'll see this evening when I come back for sunset if it's any good from this side. In the AM, I was the only one there. I passed no one coming in; no one was there and I saw no one until about 9:30 or so. Here's a shot in the morning light - considerably better than the midday shot seen on Page 2. The quality of early morning and late evening light is so much better than midday light. The light is warmer, the shadows are softer and there is less contrast.
I made it back to the RV by about 11:00 -- time to do laundry and grocery shopping. Finished all that and lunch by 3:00 so kicked back and cleaned the bicycle. Left the RV park at about 5:00 pm for Bass Harbor Head Light. Since sunset isn't until 8:30 pm, I've plenty of time for a bike ride first. Rather than something new, I thought I'd try the same 6 mile route as yesterday, only in the other direction. My suspicions were confirmed! The route is all uphill in that direction too!! Go figure that!!
After killing enough time with that, I made it to the Lighthouse at about 7:45 pm - 45 minutes before sunset. Imagine my surprise in finding about a dozen other photographers on the scene either setting up or getting ready to set up with tripods and the whole nine yards!! I wasn't using a tripod so just sat off to the side watching the circus with interest!
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