Paying our respects at Rockport's Gala 100th Anniversary Celebration in 1991.

André the Seal

Died 1986 - Rockport, Maine

André was a harbor seal who spent his winters at the New England Aquarium in Boston and his summers in Rockport Harbor. Every spring for over 20 years the Seaquarium would release him and André would swim north to Rockport (150+ miles). It was always a high point for local residents when he reappeared. He was the honorary harbormaster.

A marble statue of André was dedicated at harborside in 1978; André unveiled it himself. André died in 1986, either a victim of George Bush's "I'm as spry as any 20-year-old" speedboat, or of shame when Roadside America #1 revealed Rockport's nasty attitude toward young travel writers.

André will never have a successor, says the Rockport Chamber of Commerce, because "the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) will never allow it."

André was the subject of a lackluster feature film.

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