Andre was a male harbor seal who was adopted by Harry Goodridge in 1961, and lived in Rockport Harbor with Mr. Goodridge until Andre died in 1986. During his lifetime, Andre was frequently seen in the harbor, usually being a kind of seal comedian for those watching and Mr. Goodridge even put on daily shows with Andre in the summer. He became a local, then national celebrity appearing in magazines and on television.
This virtual cache is a stone carving by sculptor Jane Wasey of Andre looking out onto his harbor, and was finished before his death. It depicts Andre in 1/3 life size- so add quite a few more inches around. There is a plaque on the ground nearby with a short biography about Andre.
A short wiki article about Andre can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_the_Seal, and a longer magazine article can be found here: https://newengland.com/today/travel/maine/portland/andre-the-seal/. There are also a few books and videos about Andre; two of the books are Andre, by Lew Ditez, and A Seal Called Andre by Harry Goodridge. Both books are most likely in your local library.
There is a logging requirement for this cache:
On the statues base, there is a brass plaque with the artists name and date; there is also a carved inscription somewhere else on the base- please use the Geocaching message system to contact me and describe what is inscribed (NOT ether of the two metal plaques) and where is it located in relation to Andre. You may log your find while the answer is pending.
Please do not post any spoilers or pictures of the answer anywhere online.
While not required, posting a picture with your log of Andres' statue with you and/ or your group would be appreciated. For those that had the pleasure to see Andre while he was alive, maybe you have a picture(s) you would like to share with your log.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.