A dead whale covered in shark bites keeps washing up on Maine islands

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 19, 2026

Mike Kersula and his crew noticed a bad smell as they approached the beach on Enchanted Island by boat two weeks ago. Then a crew member realized that what had looked like a ledge was bobbing up and down in the water along the small island about five miles south of Stonington. A 43-foot adolescent male fin whale was decomposing on the shore, riddled with shark bites. Fin whales are the second-largest whale species in the world, with adults in the north Atlantic reaching 70 feet, and are listed as federally endangered. Causes of death usually can’t be determined for whales, but a number of whales have been struck by boats or had problems with fishing gear along the East Coast this summer.