July 2, 2012

Humpback calf found floating off Maine coast

The Associated Press

BAR HARBOR — Marine biologists intend to examine the carcass of a humpback whale calf that was found floating off Mount Desert Island.

Rosemary Seton, a researcher with Allied Whale, says the 18-foot calf is being kept at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor pending an examination. Seton tells the Bangor Daily News that the whale was likely born this past winter in the Caribbean Sea.

The whale carcass was spotted last week and washed up on the south shore of Little Cranberry Island over the weekend. A necropsy will help determine the cause of death.

Seton said the latest estimate of the humpback whale population, which was done a few years ago, indicates there are about 12,000 of them in the North Atlantic.

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