Online Lobster Museum Showcases Maine Lobster In All Its Glory

Who needs to get their hands wet? The new Maine Lobster Museum gives its visitors, from anywhere in the world, an immersive experience of all things lobster with the ease of a click.

The museum is the brainchild of husband and wife team, Sebastian and Coral Crissey, age 25. It opened its virtual doors in May.

With the purchase of a ticket ($10 for a day, $20 for three-day, $40 for a monthly pass or $80 for a year) visitors can explore seven digital exhibits on everything from lobstermen’s conservation practices and the biology of a lobster to lobster in pop culture and lobster memes.

Sebastian Crissey said he’s most excited for visitors to experience the “Claws of Culture” exhibit.

“It features the lobster’s most iconic cameos. It emphasizes lobsters’ cultural symbolism,” Crissey said in a recent interview. “The digital format allows us to bring together fashion pieces, historic paintings, film clips and literary references in one cohesive narrative about how deeply embedded the lobster is in our collective imagination.”

The navigational bar will lead you to any of the seven lobster exhibits in the virtual museum.

Crissey grew up in Belfast. According to the museum’s website, his love for storytelling and museums began early. He travelled to Ireland at 17 as a volunteer on organic farms and has journeyed throughout the world making wine and exploring how fermentation reflects local traditions and ecosystems. He is currently completing a Bachelor of Science in Digital Media at Champlain College in Vermont.

“When I turned my attention back home to Maine, I couldn’t help but look at our most iconic creature, the lobster,” he continued. “I knew there were more stories to be told. This background helped me see beyond the tourist-friendly image of lobsters to recognize them as part of a complex ecosystem of relationships between people, marine environments, and local economies.”

Coral Crissey serves as archival curator and designer for the museum. The couple links the seven exhibits together through a virtual docent, an animated talking crustacean named Laurance. They plan to add more exhibits to the site over time.

The virtual museum already has fans. Several Maine hotels have added links to the museum to their guest information materials. Crissey has partnered with Maine Archives and Museums, the Maine Tourism Association and with Museums for All, a program that allows those receiving federal food assistance to gain free or reduced admission to museums, in order to make tickets more readily available.

To visit the Maine Lobster Museum go to https://mainelobstermuseum.org.