The Penobscot Paddle and Chowder Society paddled the Sebasticook River
from Clinton to Benton Falls Dam and then from Benton Falls Dam to Fort
Halifax Part (Kennebec River) Sunday. Beautiful day, excellent water
level (3″ below last step at Mill Park), great people, amazing number of
eagles everywhere. There are more eagles (more than 40) on the section
below the dam than anywhere in the continental U.S. per Nate Gray at
Maine Marine Resources.
We had 9 boats and 10 people from Clinton to the Benton Falls Dam and
11 boats and 12 people from the dam to Fort Halifax Park (Kennebec River).
Bruce Weik, Pauline Boyce, Andrew McDowell, Emma McDowell, Ron Chase,
Nancy Chase, Kevin Morrissey, Beth Main, Shawn Main, Karin Eberhardt,
Loren Starcher, Allan Fuller
The eagles are there to eat the alewife (herring) that are migrating
up the Sebastocook River. There have been more than 5 million alewife
that have passed the Benton Falls Dam going up the river so far. That is
the biggest river migration on the whole east coast of the U.S. There
were schools of herring breaking water. They were being driven to the
surface by the stripper bass chasing them. The herring are food for all.
About 20% are netted and sent to Canada in refrigerated trucks to be
canned for human consumption.