| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Area | 0.011 sq mi (0.028 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 20 ft (6 m) |
| Country | |
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US
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| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
| Additional information | |
| Visited by biologists for maintenance and tourists as a vacation spot | |
Eastern Egg Rock Island is an island in Knox County, Maine, United States,[1] owned by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW). It is located off the southern Atlantic Coast of the state, where scientists from around the world study.[2] Project Puffin of the Audubon Society works on the island through a contract with the MDIFW.[3]
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The island is by the mouth of Maine's Muscongus Bay. It is treeless and is seven acres in size,[2] about six miles off Pemaquid Point.[4]
In 1973 Stephen W. Kress from the Audubon Society started an act called Project Puffin to restore seabird colonies to the southern Maine area. Puffins, from Newfoundland, and terns were reintroduced to the island. Puffins were longest gone; they had not been spotted on the island since 1885. Biologists from other countries joined the society to help coax the birds back to Maine islands and to control the population of the birds' predators. The techniques used for the restoration of the birds, such as playing recordings of puffin calls, were effective,[2][5] and Kress wrote a children's book about the success of the project.
With the help of fish delivered to the island,[5] 69 percent of Maine's roseate terns nested on Eastern Egg Rock by 2004.[6] Now it is the southernmost point in North America where puffins live.[4] To protect the birds it is closed to visitors for the breeding season April through August.[3]
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