7 Unforgettable New England Wildlife Cruises | Where to See Loons, Bald Eagles, Moose, Sharks & More!

Set sail for adventure on these unforgettable New England wildlife cruises, where you’ll encounter everything from moose and bald eagles to puffins, whales, and even white sharks. These expert-led boat tours offer incredible access to the region’s most iconic creatures in their natural habitats.

7 Unforgettable New England Wildlife Cruises for Animal Lovers

New England Wildlife Cruises For Birders
Loons

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center / Loon Preservation Committee | Holderness, NH

Overview: Two worthy nonprofits join forces for this pontoon boat trip on Squam Lake, where the first major efforts to protect NH loons began in the 1970s.

Captain/Crew: A Squam Lakes Natural Science Center naturalist is your pilot and guide, with help from a Loon Preservation Committee biologist.

Common Sights: Loons, mallards, double-crested cormorants, kingfishers, great blue herons, bald eagles, hawks, hooded mergansers, common mergansers.

Loon Fun Fact: Loons are long-lived—the oldest NH loon, which dwells on Lake Umbagog, is nearly 30 years old.

Loon Cruise Info: Cruises offered June–August. Not recommended for children under 5.

Ospreys

RiverQuest | Haddam, CT

Overview: The lower Connecticut River is a hot spot for wildlife-watching, and RiverQuest has been cruising it through all seasons in search of all kinds of critters.

Captain/Crew: Married founders Mark and Mindy Yuknat: He’s a captain with extensive cruises under his belt; she’s a state-certified naturalist.

Common Sights: Ospreys, bald eagles, hawks, ducks, and other wildlife including foxes, deer, and coyotes.

Osprey Fun Fact: Using their rotating outer talons like opposable thumbs, ospreys position their caught fish head-forward for better aerodynamics in flight.

Osprey Cruise Info: Two-hour osprey cruise. Not recommended for children under 10. (Note: RiverQuest has many other types of cruises, including osprey/eagle trips in spring.)

Bald Eagles

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center | Holderness, NH

Overview: A naturalist discusses the recovery of Bald Eagles in the state with a tour route that goes to areas where it’s most likely to spot the majestic birds in their natural habitat.

Captain/Crew: A Squam Lakes Natural Science Center naturalist is your pilot and guide.

Common Sights: Bald eagles, loons, mergansers, blue herons, cormorants, and many more.

Bald Eagle Fun Fact: Bald Eagles have nested on Squam since 2003, the first pair to do so in the Lakes Region in more than 50 years.

Bald Eagle Cruise Info: Ninety-minute cruises are offered. Not recommended for children under 5.

Seabirds

Maine Seabird Tours | Vinalhaven, ME

Overview: The son of the late ecologist Bill Drury, a renowned expert on Eastern seabirds, award-winning guide John Drury has avian expertise in his blood.

Captain/Crew: Drury is a Maine seabird ecologist who became a charter captain after years spent ferrying researchers and gear to Seal Island and Matinicus Rock.

Common Sights: Razorbills, puffins, Arctic skuas, great cormorants, black guillemots, Arctic terns, eiders, Wilson’s petrels, and many more.

Seabirds Fun Fact: One of Drury’s biggest lures: the chance to see the famous lone red-billed tropicbird that has returned annually to Seal Island since 2005.

Seabirds Cruise Info: Custom cruises offered May–early November.

New England Wildlife Cruises For Underwater Encounters

Sea Creatures

Dive-In Theater with Diver Ed | Bar Harbor, ME

Overview: There’s nothing else quite like this interactive cruise, during which passengers watch live onscreen as “Diver Ed” explores underwater and collects sea life to bring aboard for a closer look.

Captain/Crew: Skippering the Starfish Enterprise are Captain Evil (aka Edna Martin) and Diver Ed (aka Martin’s husband, Ed Monat, a former Bar Harbor harbormaster and Smithsonian marine ecologist).

Common Sights: Sea stars, sea cucumbers, crabs, lobsters, sand dollars, sea snails, anemones, worms, urchins, jellyfish, sponges, barnacles, scallops, mussels, and many more.

Sea Creatures Fun Fact: Monat has been dive-bombed underwater by a white shark look-alike known as a porbeagle shark, and a monkfish once swallowed his arm (no harm done).

Sea Creatures Cruise Info: Typically the two-hour cruises are offered Memorial Day–Labor Day; see website above for latest info.

White Sharks

Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) / Outermost Harbor Marine (OHM) | Cape Cod, MA

Overview: The Open Boat White Shark Charter allows individuals and small groups to join a shared vessel for a (fingers crossed!) unforgettable encounter with Cape Cod’s top marine predator.

Captain/Crew: Guiding the cruise are a spotter pilot accompanied by an OHM Captain and AWSC naturalist.

Common Sights: Seals, sea turtles, and various whale and bird species—and with luck, white sharks (though sightings are not guaranteed).

White Shark Fun Fact: Sharks have multiple rows of teeth that continuously replace one another—making their mouth something like a fearsome conveyor belt!

White Shark Cruise Info: Max 6 passengers. Depending on the vessel, a minimum of 4-5 passengers is required for an open boat charter to run. (Note: Departs from Chatham.)

New England Wildlife Cruises For Moose

Maine Quest Adventures | Medway, ME

Overview: Born and raised with Baxter State Park in his backyard, Millinocket native Bryant Davis has decades of experience finding the local four-legged celebrities.

Captain/Crew: Co-owners and Registered Maine Guides Bryant and wife Sherry run moose-spotting pontoon boat cruises on Millinocket Lake (they also offer canoe, kayak, and van options).

Common Sights: Moose, bald eagles, deer, otters, rabbits, loons, ducks, foxes, and many more.

Moose Cruise Fun Fact: Cruises may include a stop at the c. 1907 Ambajejus Boom House, the only such structure that survives from Maine’s great logging era.

New England Whale-Watching Cruises

Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown | Provincetown, MA

New England Aquarium/Boston Harbor Cruises | Boston, MA

New England Eco Adventures | Kennebunk, ME & Hampton Beach, NH

Overview: Since New England has no shortage of worthy whale-watching cruises, these are a mere sampling: Dolphin Fleet, the oldest on the East Coast, NEAQ/BHC has catamarans that are among the biggest and fastest in the country; New England Eco Adventures uses rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) to help reduce the carbon footprint of whale-watching.

Common Sights: Humpbacks, finbacks, minke whales, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, blue whales, pilot whales, harbor porpoises, and many more.

Whale Fun Fact: One of the NEAQ staff’s favorite bits of trivia to share: Whale poop is a key ocean fertilizer, and thanks to their deep dives, whales disperse those nutrients throughout the water column, from the ocean floor to the surface.

Which New England wildlife cruises did we miss? Let us know!

See More:

Wild Moments with Vermont Nature Photographer Roger Irwin

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