A Topsham man had to be rescued on Wednesday afternoon after he became stuck up to his waist in coastal mud in Brunswick.
Matthew Alexander, 31, called 911 shortly after 2 p.m. to report that he was stuck in the mud off Wharton’s Point in the intertidal zone of Maquoit Bay and couldn’t get back to shore, the Brunswick Police Department said in a news release.
Alexander told emergency dispatchers he had shot several ducks from the shore, and when he went to retrieve them he suddenly sank.
Brunswick police officers used their department’s Marine Patrol air boat to reach Alexander. It took two officers to break the suction and get Alexander into the boat, according to the department. The ducks were retrieved later.
Alexander was taken to Mid Coast Hospital because of the amount of time he had been exposed to the ocean water. He was later released.
The Brunswick Police Department cautioned that coastal mudflats are unstable and can have “honey pots” that act like quicksand — the more a person moves, the deeper they sink.
