The F/V Seahorse, a 30-foot white fishing boat with a mermaid on the bow and “Seahorse” painted on the stern, was found submerged in Cape Cod Bay off Wellfleet on Wednesday.
According to multiple reports, the vessel, captained by 64-year-old Shawn Arsenault, had been missing since Saturday, when it left Rock Harbor in Orleans with Arsenault and his 54-year-old girlfriend, Felicia Daley, to go clamming near the Target Ship Wreck near Eastham. The boat was reported overdue on Tuesday, after failing to return as expected on Sunday.
The Coast Guard, along with Massachusetts State Police, Massachusetts Environmental Police, and local authorities, conducted an extensive search. A recreational fisherman discovered the sunken vessel in 25 feet of water near Billingsgate Shoal, west of Wellfleet, around 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
A boater had also reported a sunken ship two miles north of the Brewster shoreline, which aligned with the discovery. Massachusetts State Police divers were deployed for a recovery mission, and two bodies were recovered, though their identities were not immediately confirmed.
Prior to the discovery, a GPS unit labeled “F/V Seahorse” was found on a beach on Sunday by a father and daughter. The boat had been recently inspected by a mechanic and equipped with new radar and a fish finder, with no reported mechanical issues.
On the morning of the disappearance, Arsenault was seen throwing items overboard outside the harbor, though the nature of what those items were is unclear.
A cellphone ping had last placed the boat two miles offshore of Chatham, about 15 miles from its intended fishing area.
The cause of the sinking and the fate of Arsenault and Daley remain under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police and Environmental Police.
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