Research Vessel Named for Russ Peterson Lost at Sea

A research vessel recently rechristened for noted environmentalist Russell W. Peterson, the 91-year-old former National Audubon Society president, chairman of the President's Council on Environmental Quality and governor of Delaware, broke up 14 miles off Rehoboth Beach in a severe storm that smashed the Mid-Atlantic states on Monday, May 12th. The liftboat, formerly used to service oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, was being used to study migratory bird routes for a company planning an offshore wind farm. One of the two crewmen rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter died.