Dead humpback whale recovered from Portland harbor

On June 5, a dead 12-meter-long female humpback whale was found entangled in a fishing net off Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and was towed to Portland Harbor for recovery.

The response group Marine Mammals of Maine and the Maine Marine Patrol were notified of the entangled whale, which was initially reported alive but was found dead when the Marine Patrol arrived on scene, according to a statement from the National Marine Fisheries Service. The whale was known to researchers and whale-watching tour captains as “Chunk” and was listed as No. 9944 in the Gulf of Maine and North Atlantic humpback whale catalogs.

On Thursday morning, the Maine State Marine Patrol towed the whale to Portland. At Portland Yacht Services on the Fore River, the carcass was lifted onto a trailer using the shipyard’s boat lift for disposal at a compost farm in Gorham after an autopsy to determine the cause of death, the Bangor Daily News reported.

NMFS officials said Marine Mammals of Maine is leading the investigation with assistance from members of NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Region Stranded Marine Mammal Network, including the College of the Atlantic/Allied Whale, Seacoast Science Center, New England Aquarium, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident. The whale was first seen in 2015 and spotted again later that year after becoming severely entangled in fishing gear.

“NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center was able to locate her and the Center for Coastal Studies rescue team was able to successfully remove the heavy rope that was wrapped around her body. She has exhibited normal, healthy behavior every year since then,” the agency’s statement said.