Cruise along Mississippi River is an opportunity to see bald eagles up close
A National Eagle Center riverboat cruise get you up close and personal with the country's national bird.
"This is pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to tour boats on the river," said Jon Borreson.
As a boat captain, Borreson has taken his guests every which way on every waterway imaginable. But when he gets behind the wheel of the Cal Fremling in Winona, he knows what's waiting up ahead.
"We see an average of 12 to 20 eagles on every trip," said Borreson. "We've got a couple eagles nests that we can pull up underneath and actually see small eagles in it."
The scenic eagle cruises along the Mississippi are popular, but wouldn't have been possible just 15 years ago.
"When I was a child here growing up in Winona, never saw a bald eagle on Lake Winona, never saw them flying over town," said Ed Hahn with the National Eagle Center.
Conservation, habitat protection and the banning of the insecticide DDT are the main reasons for the comeback in Minnesota and beyond. In 1963 there were only about 400 nesting pairs of eagles in the U.S. Now, there are nearly 75,000.
It's hard to avoid them. The cruises began in May and will run through October. Winona State University provides the boat, which leaves from a downtown dock. But the college has a partner for these eagle excursions.
Later, in July, the two-hour eagle cruises will leave from the National Eagle Center in Wabasha.
It's the epicenter for these birds and home to raptors who are permanently disabled. And much like Winona, Wabasha itself offers a natural habitat for eagles, a place where their numbers have really taken off.
"You see eagles fighting, catching fish, eating fish on the bank," said Borreson. "At certain times of the year there are literally hundreds of eagles."
It's a far cry from the past, with a chance to soar to new heights in the future.
"There's a wonderful and inspiring story behind the bald eagle's recovery from the brink of extinction and we just hope to basically build on that legacy of success and have people really take care of the environment. That is our number one goal," said Hahn.
For more information on how you can book a cruise, we've put a link on our website, click here.
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