Boating with Captain Corey on the Sea Walker

7am in South Freeport Harbor

This summer wouldn't be complete without a morning boat ride, out of South Freeport Harbor with Captain Corey Walker, upon the Sea Walker boat.

Captain Corey, Drew, and Laurie on the Sea Walker

I love boating and Corey's boat is perfect for our needs of wildlife photography.

Sallie enjoyed herself to the max!

We wanted to show Sallie (my Montana buddy) the harbor seals and the general rocky coastline of our part of Maine.

Harbor Seals on an exposed chunk of rock at high tide.

As we motored around the harbor during high tide, we saw what seemed like a knobby rock in the distance. It turned out to be inhabited by a bunch of harbor seals of all shapes, colors, and sizes;-)

An adorable young harbor seal pup.

There were quite a few young seals this time of year. 

Big, well fed harbor seals!

And, there were lots of ginormous adults!

Just lounging around on a lazy Monday morning!

Seals were everywhere on our journey around the islands, and they kept us entertained!

I love this photo of Drew in the morning sun

The morning was cool, calm, and sunny. It was perfect for leaving the harbor and going out around some nearby islands.

Double-crested Cormorant

As we cruised, we saw cormorants everywhere. This one obliged me by skimming the surface of the water. My camera shutter was snapping photos at light speed!

Sallie kept an eagle eye out for ospreys!

As we approached this island, we saw and osprey nest with three ospreys!

Ospreys

The nest was huge and the birds were flying to and from the nest. I think there might have been one young bird still in it!

Bald Eagle

We also saw a bald eagle feeding on a fish.

Iron Island

This island is called Iron Island. Can you guess why? Look at all that red, oxidized rock! It was gorgeous;-)

Menhaden

As we motored further, we saw the surface of the water getting churned up. There were huge schools of menhaden fish everywhere! Corey stopped the boat so that we could see them. Unfortunately, I forgot my polarizing filter for the camera, so you can't see the fish very well, but at least you get an idea of just how many fish there must be here! No wonder the seals are so fat, sassy, and happy!

Sailboats in the Brunswick Harbor

Beyond wildlife, we saw lots of sailboats in different harbors as we cruised through them.

Most of the boats were moored as only the fishermen were up at this time in the morning!

Lots of sailors haul their little row boats with them so they can go ashore after mooring their boats out in the harbor. The piers can only hold so many boats at one time.

We had such a lovely morning on the water for a few carefree hours. Thank you, Corey!