Sorry, this is also in General Interest. I haven't posted in a long time and forgot to change the topic site.

I'm just beginning to plan this summer's trip--late start for me. We're planning a road trip from home in North Florida up to Nova Scotia, PEI and vacinity. I'm debating Newfundland since it's already a big trip, but I really want to whale-watch and maybe see an iceburg and my husband is determined to see puffins!. Can we do these in NS or do we need to travel on up to Newfundland? We haven't been able to determine exactly when we'll go, but time won't be a huge issue. We tend to take long trips.

You'll have to go to NF for iceberg and puffins for sure.

And it's great that you can take long trips as covering PEI, NS, and NF in one trip will require it. Enjoy!

really, you can't see puffins somewhere around Nova Scotia? I know there are puffins off the coast of Maine. Is it a time of year thing? I seem to remember once being in Maine in late August and the captain of the puffin tour boat said there wouldn't be any left, they were gone by mid August. Anybody know the answer? Where and when can you see puffins?

I don't know if you can see puffins in NB or NS but we 've seen them in Newfundland about 30 km south of St. John in Bay Bulls or Witless Bay. We took an 1 hour bout ride and it was beutifull. Our trip was in early August and was no iceberg left. All melted. Not sure but this is what I remenmber, someone said in June there were some or still lot of them.

You can see puffin off Nova Scotia. We took a boat trip from Cape Breton Island and after about 40 minutes sailing saw lots of puffins and other sea birds nesting on rocky islands, (this was in late June / early July). I cannot remember the name of the trip but we were staying in Baddeck at the time and the place was easily reachable from there.

Lady,

There is a smallish Atlantic Puffin colony on the [aptly named] Bird Islands just off the Cape Breton coast.

A number of other seabirds also nest there including Razorbill - a neat looking bird.

For large puffin colonies, and immense numbers of other seabirds you do need to visit Newfoundland.

For whale watching there are many options in Atlantic Canada. The lower Bay of Fundy -both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick sides - can be excellent. Newfoundland is also very good in some locations.

For icebergs the best places are the northern coastal areas of Newfoundland.

I would be pleased to offer more detail on any of the above.

cheers

Jerry

You can also see puffins on a boat trip to Machias Seal Island from Maine or Grand manan, New Brunswick. There, you can watch hundreds of puffins and auks from blinds. For that trip, however, I believe that you need to reserve way ahead, as alimited number of americans and Canadians are allowed on the island on any given day.

Machias Seal Island...that was the place we were trying to get a tour to.

I was curious about this, so I did a bit of websurfing. There are a couple of puffin colonies off the coast of Maine and NS. And a google of "puffin tours" will get quite a few hits.

Lady, you might be interested in this one:
http://www.peggyscovewatertours.com/index.html

Peggys Cove is, of course, 40 minutes from Halifax NS. They offer tours which promise whales and puffins.

Machias Seal Island can be reached from [beautiful] Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, in the lower Bay of Fundy. Google them and you will find the one operator who goes out from Grand Manan.

Grand Manan, from mid-summer onward, is also a super place for whale watching, including good numbers of Northern Right Whales.

cheers

Jerry

The 2 companys that are on cape breton island that specialize in puffins seals ect are 1. Donalad's Puffin Boat tours they leave from Englishtown and Donalda has some eagles trained to come to her boat to eat fish right out of her hands. 2. Bird Island boat tours the leave from Black rock , Milleville area both companies are great . have fun

I've been out of pocket for a while, so I've just checked in and found all this wonderful information. Thank you all so much.

How feasible is it to visit Macchias Seal Island these days?

As some may know, ownership of the Island is actively contested by the US and Canada.

While I know of no attempt by Canada (the rightful owner) to keep people off the Island, the lack of a proper docking facility has been of concern to the Cdn government, lest Canada face liability if anyone gets hurt.

I would check it out in advance.