A parrot, a dog and a cat are the logo symbols for the Museum of Maritime Pets, a small but information-laden museum in a small Maine town. Image by Tom Adkinson

ROCKLAND, Maine – “We’re a bit of a niche museum,” said Pat Sullivan, president and CEO of the Museum of Maritime Pets, in an understatement for the ages.

Even the Derwent Pencil Museum in England, the Spam Museum in Minnesota and the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston sound less unexpected than a museum devoted to pets on boats, but the Museum of Maritime Pets is quite serious . . . and quite good.

Pat Sullivan, accompanied by her landlubber dog, has stories through the millennia to share about pets and service animals afloat. Image by Tom Adkinson

It is tiny – one room in an office building that otherwise houses accountants, massage therapists and a nutrition social service organization – but it is a solid museum steered by an executive with solid museum credentials. Sullivan has managed museums in Boston, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, Del.

“This is a history museum dedicated to working animals and pets in maritime settings. It is the only museum with this subject matter in the world,” Sullivan said. “I love history, I love animals and I love the sea.”

The Museum of Maritime Pets lets plush toys and story-filled displays explain the history of animals in nautical settings. Image by Tom Adkinson

Domestic animals have been going to sea since man first launched boats, providing companionship and service during long and sometimes dangerous voyages, according to one museum display. They are guards, hunters, mascots, messengers, pest controllers, rescuers and more, and some have earned medals in wartime.

One of the museum’s activities is its Ambassadors at Sea program that recognizes real seafaring pets, some of which post blogs and even have newsletters. Examples are Tea and Riki, feline crew members on the Barque Picton Castle, a three-masted tall ship based in Nova Scotia that is known for its international voyages. Sullivan visited the ship in 2024 to deliver the cats’ letters of appointment and ambassadorial badges.

The Rockland Lighthouse is within eyesight of the museum and is one of 65 in Maine, many of which have pet stories in their histories. Image by Tom Adkinson

Lighthouse critters are close enough to the sea that they qualify for recognition at the Museum of Maritime Pets. The museum’s home state of Maine provides numerous stories since it has 65 lighthouses along its rugged coast. One tale is about a tomcat named Sambo Tonkus, born in 1929 at the Cape Neddick Lighthouse, which is a small island. Sambo was a swimmer and a hunter, and he would swim across an inlet to the mainland where prey were more abundant. In the process, he became a tourist attraction.

Sage, a yellow lab, serves on the USS Gerald Ford in a special role for crew morale and mental healthcare. Image by Malachi Lakey courtesy of the Navy Times

“We’re not just about stuff that happened in the past. We’re about things happening now,” Sullivan said, pointing to a U.S. Navy program that posts service dogs on aircraft carriers.

In navy-speak, the dogs are part of the Expanded Operational Stress Control Canine program. In less formal terms, dogs such as a yellow labrador named Sage aboard the USS Gerald Ford, are companions for crewmembers who need a morale boost or could benefit from a conversational bridge to talk to a mental healthcare professional.

“Come for the dog, stay for the talk” is how a navy representative described the role that a stress control canine can play in a Navy Times article.

Sage and other service dogs are carrying on a tradition that has been part of going to sea since sailors navigated by the stars. It is one of the lessons Sullivan wants to highlight in her one-room museum and through an extensive online archive of historical material. The museum marks its 20th birthday in 2026.


Trip-planning resources: MuseumOfMaritimePets.org and VisitMaine.com

(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available at Amazon.com.)