WELLS, Maine (WABI) – Officials are monitoring a dead humpback whale off of Wells, the third dead whale that’s been found off the coast of southern Maine in the past two months.

Wells Police said Friday afternoon the humpback was floating approximately two miles off the coast.

Police say the whale’s carcass is drifting northwest and has a GPS tracker on it.

Marine Mammals of Maine identified the whale as an adult female named “Lollipop” who had been outfitted with a tracking tab by the Center for Coastal Studies to assist stranding networks with response efforts.

Officials say they will monitor the whale’s location over the next several days as it gets closer to shore.

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For those who prefer glamping to camping, a destination in Maine ranks among the best in the U.S., according to Vogue.

The publication recently released a list of the 20 best glamping resorts in America and included Under Canvas Acadia in Surry, Maine. Glamping is glamorous camping noted for its luxurious amenities in the wild.

The Montana-based adventure-hospitality company opened the glamping location in 2020 near Acadia National Park. Travelers who stay there enjoy “glamping accommodations inspired by the African safari experience that provide a bridge to the outdoors, allowing guests to be immersed in nature in luxury and style,” according to the company.

Here’s what Vogue wrote about Under Canvas Acadia:

Since its first camp opened in 2012 and subsequent expansion, Under Canvas has been the gold standard for glamping across the states. The brand’s outpost in Maine’s Acadia National Park is particularly of note thanks to its 100 acres of waterfront property and tents designed with king-size beds, wood-burning stoves, and ensuite bathrooms with hot showers.

The Under Canvas Acadia glampground is about 35 minutes from Acadia National Park, which stretches for nearly 50,000 acres along the Atlantic coastline in Maine and offers 27 miles of historic motor roads, 45 miles of carriage roads, and 158 miles of hiking trails.

For those who enjoy hiking when they camp, earlier this year Conde Nast Traveler named an Acadia National Park hike one of the best in the U.S.: the Beehive Loop Trail.

Check out Vogue’s list of the 20 best glamping resorts in America.

Hope Marie West and Harmony Mae West. GoFundMe

MECHANIC FALLS — Two young sisters whose bodies were discovered Saturday at their family’s second-floor apartment died by homicide, according to Chief Jeffrey Goss of the Mechanic Falls Police Department.

The bodies of Harmony Mae West, 11, and Hope Marie West, 6, were discovered at 5 Highland Ave. during a welfare check by Mechanic Falls police.

Mechanic Falls police requested assistance from the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit South after discovering three bodies at the residence at the corner of Elm Street and Highland Avenue, according to Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The third body was that of the girls’ mother, Jennifer Barney, 37, whose death has been ruled a suicide, Goss said.

Detectives and evidence response technicians responded and spent Saturday evening and the overnight hours processing the scene.

The three bodies were taken to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, where autopsies were performed to determine the cause and manner of death.

On the lawn outside the multiunit apartment Wednesday, flowers, cards, pictures and stuffed toys filled the bottom of the stairway leading up to that door.

Earlier in the week, the expanding pile of mementoes was exposed to the elements, but a blue pop-up tent has since been erected over the collection to shelter the tributes.

The trampoline that neighbors said the two girls often used was visible in the apartment building’s front yard.

Harmony and Hope West were born in Lewiston and moved to Mechanic Falls. The girls attended the Elm Street School, but had not been seen at summer school in recent weeks, according to reports.

Neighbors said Sunday they had not seen the girls playing outside in several weeks. The neighbors also said they did not know the family well because the mother, Barney, kept to herself.

Barney worked as an inbound sales representative at the former Maine-based Argo Marketing from April to August 2017, and one of the neighbors believed Barney most recently drove for DoorDash, a job where she was able to take her girls inside the car when making deliveries.

The girls’ father, James Lee West, died in 2019. According to West’s obituary, he had been living in Casco at the time of his death.

A GoFundMe page was set up and is managed by the girls’ great-uncle, Dan Parrott, who lives in Nevada. The GoFundMe page was reportedly established at the request of his sister and the girls’ paternal grandmother from Lewiston. All funds are expected to go to the family to cover funeral expenses.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the GoFundMe page had raised $8,091 toward its goal of $10,000.

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