Medical examiner: Perry man drowned while clamming
11/18/09 | 7 comments

Medical examiner: Perry man drowned while clamming


By Sharon Kiley Mack
BDN Staff

PERRY, Maine — Arthur “Skip” Calder, 51, died of drowning, the Maine State Medical Examiner’s Office determined after an autopsy.

Calder drowned while harvesting clams on Tuesday, Nov. 10. His body was found Monday, Nov. 16.

There was a delay between when Calder died and when he was reported missing because Calder lived alone. Once it was discovered by family members that Calder had not been heard from in several days, his brother Howard Calder, also of Perry, went to Calder’s Cannon Hill Road home and discovered his brother’s clamming gear missing.

Howard Calder then took a trail frequently used by his brother behind his home to reach the shore of East Bay.

“I walked down the trail and saw his gear on the shore. His footprints were in the mud, but they just disappeared into the water,” Howard Calder said last Monday.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources was notified that Calder was missing about 4 p.m. Sunday, according to DMR Officer Jason Leavitt, but it was too dark to begin searching.

A search of the East Bay area was initiated at daybreak Nov. 16, and Calder’s body was found on the high tide line in a grassy area of Pattangal Cove. Leavitt said the body was found about 1.8 miles from where it is assumed he entered the water.

Calder is the seventh local fisherman to die in Cobscook Bay since last December. Three remain missing.

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Comments
7 comments on this item
On 11/18/09 at 5:13 PM, Thinkaboutit wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Give me a break - He had a medical condition and the tide came in - Pretty hard to drown when your clamming at low tide - Never heard of anyone clamming at high tide - Geeze

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On 11/19/09 at 3:08 AM, clamchowdah wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Thats what I was thinking too Thinkaboutit... Must have had a medical condition. My condolences to all family and friends.

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On 11/19/09 at 8:12 AM, opinionated wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I think we all have the same opinion on this one. Especially considering how many years this individual has clammed.

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On 11/19/09 at 8:42 AM, rotofrank wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If you really Thinkaboutit (sorry about using your name, but it just seemed to fit), his clam gear was on the shore and his footprints lead into the water. I'm no clamming expert, but I have clammed a few times in my life, and every time I have I always take my gear out onto the flats with me, not leave the gear on the shore. So the question I have is were there clams in the hods indicating he was finished clamming and may have gone into the water to wash up or were the hods empty indicating he left them there and ventured into the water for some unknown reason? I didn't see this question answered in the article and thought it would be a good one for BDN to ask.

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On 11/19/09 at 12:09 PM, Mainefriend wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Lots of unanswered questions left after reading this report. How does somebody just drown when the water is slowly rising? Would'nt a competent person walk away from the water?

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On 11/19/09 at 12:38 PM, Bobby54 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Hmmm Not a good Idea to go hunting , Fishing or anywhere else Alone !

Are you sure he was alone ???

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On 11/26/09 at 10:32 AM, bobo_1 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

There are a lot of holes in this story I would like to see a BDN due a little more due dillgence.

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