|
Located about six miles from the town of Friendship in Muscongus Bay, this 12-acre island offers safe refuge to nesting gulls, eiders, black-crowned night herons, Leach's storm petrels, and ospreys.
The U.S. Government acquired Franklin Island in 1806 and completed construction of the lighthouse in 1808. This was the third lighthouse built in Maine, and the U.S. Coast Guard continued to staff the lighthouse for 160 years, until the station was automated in 1967.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquired Franklin Island in 1973, making this the first island acquired for the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
Franklin Island was listed on the State Register of Critical Areas in 1977 for its unique value to nesting eiders. At one time, the eider nesting density was the highest in Maine with 1,400 nests packed onto six acres.
Fewer eiders nest here today, mainly due to an outbreak of avian cholera that hit the area in the 1980s. The population has slowly recovered, a 2003 survey documented more than 330 pairs of eiders and more than 100 pairs of great black-backed and herring gulls.
Franklin Island is open during daylight hours from Sept. 1 to March 31 and closed to public use during the seabird nesting season from April 1 to Aug. 31. The island can be accessed by personal boat only.
Outdoor Activities |
