December 15, 2025

Andre the Seal Who Chose a Town

The true story of a harbor seal who made Rockport, Maine his home, and quietly became part of its daily life.

Most small towns have stories that get told again and again. In Rockport, Maine, one of those stories begins in the early 1960s, when a harbor seal started appearing along the docks and refused to leave.

He didn’t belong to anyone, and he wasn’t tagged, tracked, or part of any program. He just kept showing up.

The seal was later named Andre, after Andre Cowan, a trainer at Marineland. At first, people assumed he was passing through, another animal blown off course who would eventually move on. But Andre returned day after day, swimming alongside boats, hauling himself onto familiar docks, and approaching the same fishermen and families.

It became clear that Andre had been abandoned as a pup. At the time, there were no formal systems for helping wild seals in situations like his. No established rescue protocols. No nearby rehabilitation centers. There wasn’t even shared language for what people were witnessing.

So the town did what it could. They looked after him.

One of the people who noticed Andre early on was Harry Goodridge, Rockport’s harbormaster. Harry was also a scuba diver, a tree surgeon, and someone with experience fostering orphaned seal pups. Caring for animals like Andre wasn’t new to him, and when it became clear that the seal needed long-term help, Harry brought him into his life.

Andre spent his summers with the Goodridge family for more than two decades. He went on skin-diving trips. He sledded down snowy hills. He splashed in the bathtub, lounged around the house, and watched television with Harry and the family. Harry trained him to respond to commands and perform simple tricks, which delighted locals and visitors alike.

This was the 1960s and 70s. There were no viral clips, no social media debates, no shared rulebook for moments like this. The story spread slowly, through newspapers and television segments. People traveled to Rockport hoping to catch a glimpse of the seal who seemed to live like part of the town.

A book about Andre was written. Later, a movie softened and romanticized parts of the story. But the daily reality remained uncomplicated and gentle. Andre was fed. He was cared for. He was treated with affection and familiarity.

Each winter, Andre left Rockport and spent several months at aquariums in Boston and Connecticut. And every spring, without fail, he swam back north to Rockport Harbor. He did this year after year, returning to the same place, the same people, the same routines.

Andre lived this way until 1986, when he died at age 25, older than most harbor seals ever live in the wild.

Today, his story feels like a snapshot of a different era, before clear boundaries existed and before anyone knew exactly what to call a situation like Andre’s. It wasn’t quite rescue, not quite domestication, and not something that would happen the same way now.

Rockport remembers him with a small monument overlooking the harbor. It simply marks the place where, for a long time, a seal chose a town, and the town chose him back.

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