PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 6, 2024
A dead humpback whale with fishing gear wrapped around its tail was hauled from Casco Bay into Portland Harbor on Thursday. Known as “Chunk” in the Gulf of Maine and North Atlantic humpback whale catalogs, the 40-foot female was alive when she was first spotted Wednesday off Cape Elizabeth, according to NOAA, which is investigating this incident. Concern over Chunk’s fate comes as regulators try to protect a dwindling right whale population from entanglements in lobster fishing gear.