Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 65 acre island 21 miles off the coast of Rockland, Maine. The island was once the site of the largest Atlantic puffin colony in the Gulf of Maine.

Visit Us

Seal Island is closed to public access year round due to the presence of unexploded ordnance.  For more information, contact Refuge Manager at (207) 594-0600.

Commercial tour boats provide views of nesting seabirds and seals up and down the Maine coast. Check with the local Chamber of Commerce in Rockland for information on tour boats that may provide boat tours around Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Location and Contact Information

      About Us

      We Are a Complex

      Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge is part of a Complex which is comprised of five individual refuges which span the coast of Maine and support an incredible diversity of habitats including, coastal islands, forested headlands, estuaries and freshwater wetlands. The five separate refuges are: Cross Island, Petit Manan, Seal Island, Franklin Island, and Pond Island national wildlife refuges. Each has separate establishment histories and refuge purposes, but they are referred to collectively as the “Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge”. Seal, Franklin, and Pond islands are single-island refuges. Cross Island Refuge is a six-island complex, while Petit Manan Refuge includes 64 islands and 4 mainland divisions, including: Petit Manan Point (2,178 acres), Sawyers Marsh (1,150 acres), Gouldsboro Bay (635 acres) divisions and Corea Heath (431 acres).

      Our Species