First Fatal Bar Island Stranding in Acadia's History
The 25-year-old, believed to be from Maryland, was found dead near the island on Jan. 29 after apparently being stranded there by the rising tide.
A 25-year-old man believed to have been stranded on Bar Island by the rising tide was found dead in the water near the island on the morning of Jan. 29, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Citing the Bar Harbor Story, the newspaper said two women heard a man calling for help late in the afternoon of Jan. 28, ahead of a high tide around 6:30 p.m. Acadia National Park rangers and the Maine Marine Patrol searched the night of Jan. 28 as temperatures hovered near 10 degrees. The man was believed to be from Maryland. His death is thought to be the first recorded on or in the waters around the island in the park's history.
The wooded, uninhabited island, part of Acadia, is a short walk from downtown Bar Harbor, but it can be reached on foot for only about three hours a day, when low tide exposes a half-mile sand and gravel bar. Anyone who misses that window faces roughly nine hours before the bar reappears. A sign at the crossing lists the tide schedule and a water taxi number.
Strandings have happened before. Rangers rescued two hikers in December 2024, and a lobsterman used his boat to bring seven people off the island in 2017. Bar Harbor police and the National Park Service did not respond to requests for comment.
This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.
