A body was recovered Saturday from Casco Bay after it was spotted by a person aboard a ferry, Portland police said.
Casco Bay Lines contacted the Portland Police Department after someone saw the remains of a man floating in the water, police Lt. Robert Doherty said.
The identify of the man and his cause of death are not yet known, Doherty said, but detectives are investigating.
Police were able to recover the body, which was transported to a funeral home, Doherty said.
A woman who was riding the morning ferry from Peaks Island to Portland when the body was found said that the captain called police and that the boat stayed by the remains until authorities arrived.
“The captain announced, ‘We have a situation inside,’ ” said Jennifer Mora, of Peaks Island, whose husband is a Press Herald photographer.
The captain asked that everyone on the boat go inside the cabin as they waited for officials to arrive, Mora said. Some passengers were curious about the situation, she said, and eventually the captain announced that a body had been found in the water.
“The crew should be commended,” Mora said. “They handled it so professionally and sensitively.”
The boat, which was full of parents and children, was stopped for about 25 minutes.
A Casco Bay Lines employee who answered the phone Saturday said no one there could comment about what happened, referring the Press Herald to the police department. The employee said police had spent time interviewing the captain and passengers.
Doherty said it’s not uncommon to find human remains in the ocean and added that, at this time of year, being in the water for any length of time “is dangerous.”
In addition to police, the Portland Fire Department, Marine Patrol and Coast Guard responded.
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