OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine (AP) – A marine researcher says a dead whale found five miles off Old Orchard Beach had been bitten by a great white shark.

University of New England professor James Sulikowski photographed the Minke whale Friday. He told the Portland Press Herald that bite marks near the whale’s fin were the work of a great white shark. The bite marks measured 18 inches across, and Sulikowski estimates the shark measured 12 to 14 feet long.

The whale was about three miles from where Sulikowski has placed underwater cameras as part of the state’s first dedicated great white shark study.

Researchers say great whites are on the rebound after being protected from harvesting since 1991. They say the sharks are likely in the Gulf of Maine given the state’s robust seal population.