In Search of Puffins

 Laureen, my wonderful wife, promised we would be seeing Puffins in Nova Scotia. She wanted to see Puffins in Nova Scotia. She was excited to see Puffins in Nova Scotia.

I always thought a Puffin was something Pillsbury made for breakfast.

Actually, a Puffin is any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus Fratercula. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crevices among rocks or burrows in the soil.

A Puffin just enjoying life

Not being an Ornithologist, I have no idea what all that means except a Puffin is a sea bird and Laureen was keen on seeing them.

Being the doting husband I am, it would be Puffin-hunting season when we arrived in Nova Scotia - figuratively speaking only. How could anyone want to harm these little clowns of the sea? With their black and white bodies, orange feet, and a multicolored beak sporting stripes of orange, yellow, white, and black, they definitely appear ready to jump out of a Volkswagen with 300 of their closest aquatic friends.

We crossed the eight-mile-long Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island and I suggested Laureen take a gander far below at the beautiful but somewhat foggy surface of the Northumberland Strait.

“Nope,” was her reply. She doesn’t like bridges of any height or length - the Confederation Bridge is very long and very high above the ocean.

It was so cool. “Do you feel it vibrating?”

Spotting a gift shop as soon as we crossed over into the town of Borden-Carleton, I realized I would soon be paying for my smarmy remark about the shaking bridge.

We stopped at the Gateway Village and soon were patrolling huge shops filled floor to ceiling with every sort of tourist trinket, tourist apparel, tourist photographs, and so many other tourist items that I truly believed locals were not allowed into the village.

Approaching a clerk while Laureen was loading up a couple of shopping carts, I asked the woman where we could see some Puffins.

“That would be New-Found-Land,” she replied. “There be no Puffins on Prince Edward Island.”

It was at that time I came to the rationalization that we would not be seeing Puffins and I had pronounced Newfoundland wrong for my entire life.

I was taught by a teacher in elementary school that New-fun-lund was somewhere in Canada.

So much for the private school my parents had paid for while growing up in Riverside, California.

With the boot, which is a trunk in Canada, full of loot I broke the news to Laureen.

She merely shook her head and said, “I have faith we will see a lot of cute Puffins.”

A week later we saw the elusive Puffins and they were not in Newfoundland, but in Cape Breton Island near the very small town of Englishtown along St Anns Bay - which happens to be part of Nova Scotia,

Driving along the 105 toward Baddeck I saw a road sign advertising Puffins tours. I hit the brakes, threw out the anchor, and careened onto the 312.

“What are you doing?” Laureen asked while hanging onto the handgrip near the passenger seat of the rental.

“Keeping your faith alive.”

Within a few kilometers, which is really cool since they are shorter than miles, we pulled up to  Donelda’s Puffin Boat Tours.

All of us lining up for the Puffin Tour

Turns out that the owner of the boat tour, Donelda has run the business for over 28 years with her husband John - sadly we were informed that John had passed away recently, but Donelda was keeping the tours as well as their lobster business alive in his honor.

Donelda is known as the ‘Puffin Lady’ around St. Ann’s Bay.

We signed up for a three-hour tour, which gave me a bit of an apprehensive feeling, thanks to growing up with the television show, Gilligan’s Island.

I shrugged it off but it suddenly came back as we were about to board the sightseeing boat, Highland Lass, when I heard a man ask, “Lovey, did you remember to bring stacks of money?”

The tour would include visiting an official bird sanctuary located off Cape Dauphin which consists of actually two islands - Hertford and Ciboux.

I asked the owner just prior to casting off if people could land on either of the islands.

Donelda replied, “I’ve been doing these tours for a long time and let me tell you, I or any other tour operator would not stand by idly if we saw trespassers on these islanders. By law, no human can set foot on either island so the natural habitats of these sea birds will remain pristine.”

Though she was a very warm and funny person, I was sure that if she caught someone trespassing on either of the Bird Islands, she would tow them back to the harbor in a lobster trap.

One of the Bird Islands the tour investigates

As we powered out into the bay for the tour, Donelda went through a few minutes of boat safety in case the boat was struck by a mine, iceberg, or torpedo. Then for the next forty minutes, the woman explained the various types of marine life we would be observing.

Donelda going through the safety drill with passengers.

“We will be seeing a lot of different sea birds during this tour,” Donelda said while holding up large colored photographs.

“There will be Artic Terms, Common Loons . . .”

“Don’t,” Laureen whispered to me.

“. . . Common Elders . . .”

“Don’t,” again the whisper.

“. . . Red-breasted Mergansers, Belted Kingfishers, Great Blue Heron, and of course many Bald Eagles.”

Almost on cue, the Captain, who did not resemble Alan Hale Jr., stated that to the port, that is the left side of the boat facing the bow, was a Bald Eagle. Instantly, Donelda climbed out to the exterior and grabbed a large Mackerel out of a bucket.

“Watch the fish,” she yelled while tossing the fish into the waters beside us. Within moments that huge majestic Bald Eagle swept by within yards of the 41-foot Highland Lass and snatched the fish up with its huge talons.

It was marvelous to see this bird, so cleanly drop from the sky and quickly pick up the fish floating on top of the water.

During that tour, if we did not see three dozen Bald Eagles I would be surprised.

Eagle catching a fish right next to our boat

Soon we plowed through the semi-rough waters and reached the bird sanctuaries - and Laureen got her wish. Besides all the birds Donelda had mentioned were on full view darting here and there, there were hundreds of the tiny little Puffins.

Some were floating in the water, where they actually spend most of their lives, and others sitting atop the craggy cliffs of the islands, safely tucked away in the nooks and crannies carved into the rock faces created by wind and waves.

I was somewhat shocked at how small the Puffins were. Photographs I had seen in the past gave me the impression they were just a bit smaller than Arctic Penguins. Nope, they were tiny - but they did waddle a bit like penguins. Reminded me of Charlie Chaplin, if he was a Puffin walking around on the Bird Islands.

The Captain slowed the boat and for the next hour or so, we cruised within yards of the islands snapping photos with phones and cameras marveling at how many different varieties of birds lived together in this sometimes harsh environment.

“They are so cute,” Laureen said with a large smile while pointing at the Puffins. It made me happy to see her light up while looking across the waters toward these little Clowns of the Sea.

After taking so many photographs, we just went outside to the aft and took in all of what nature had to offer that afternoon.

And nature had a lot to offer.

Cool blue waters with brilliantly white wisps of waves curling here and there on the surface, dozens of sea birds flying overhead in the clear sunlight, families of Harbor Seals frolicking along the shorelines or just out sunning themselves, and feeling the ocean breezes against our faces made for a perfect day of adventure.

Show Off!

As the Highland Lass headed back to its berth near Englishtown, Donelda told us that the area near the small fishing port dates back to 1597 by the French, later becoming part of the English Empire.

 It is one of the oldest towns in North America.

Mission accomplished - the search for the Puffins was complete and I knew once we bumped into the wooded docks, there may be a new search for a pub near Englishtown, which seemed apropos.

For more information: https://Puffinsboattours.com/our-tours/

John can be reached at: beyersbyways@gmail.com