Search for Chris

Search continues for missing Matinicus lobsterman

By Leanne M. Robicheau
The Courier-Gazette Editor
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BOSTON, MASS. (Oct 27): The search for a missing Matinicus lobsterman continued Tuesday as U.S. Coast Guard ships, boats and a helicopter scoured the waters around Zephyr Ledges where the fisherman was last seen.

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Chris Whitaker, 24, left Matinicus Island around 8 a.m. Monday in a 21-foot open-hull boat, according to Chief Warrant Officer Curtis Barthel, commanding officer of Station Rockland, on Tuesday morning. He was last seen about noon on Monday. He was alone in the boat, Barthel said.

On Monday, the seas around Matinicus were estimated to be running at two to three feet and the winds were 15 knots, Barthel said Tuesday.

By 9 a.m. Tuesday, neither the lobsterman nor his boat had been found, Barthel said. It is unknown if Whitaker was wearing survival gear or a life jacket, Barthel said.

Numerous lobstermen began the search for Whitaker about 45 minutes before calling the Coast Guard at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Barthel said. Those lobstermen were still searching on Tuesday, he said, noting there were "too many [lobsterboats] to count."

One local lobsterman found a boot, a lunch box and rain gear near West Black Ledge and notified the Coast Guard, according to a press release from the Coast Guard First District Office. Whitaker's mother confirmed the items were his.

A 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Rockland, a search plane from Brunswick Naval Air Station and a fleet of Matinicus fishing boats searched the harbor between Matinicus Island and Seal Island on Monday.

The 110-foot Coast Guard cutter Jefferson Island out of Portland and the 87-foot cutter Moray out of Jonesport searched throughout the night.

The Maine Marine Patrol boat Guardian also joined the search, as well as 10 Maine State Police divers, Barthel said.

"We are going to search the area into the night with our surface assets, and we have a helicopter flight out of Air Station Cape Cod scheduled for first light tomorrow," said John Tomaszewski, the search and rescue controller at the Coast Guard First District, on Monday.

The helicopter arrived on the scene Tuesday around 8:30 a.m., but the fog hampered a search. With only a 60-foot ceiling, the helicopter went to Brunswick Naval Air Station to wait for the weather to clear, said Barthel.

Lobsterboats were dropping off people on area islands to conduct shoreline searches, according to Barthel.