MOUNT DESERT (AP) — A Maine fisherman is seeking help from the public and police in finding his scallop guts.

These aren’t just any scallop guts. Andy Mays of Southwest Harbor had been collecting scallops for six months for a project by the University of Maine’s marine research facility. He’d gutted the bivalves, isolated different organs and preserved them in formaldehyde.

Mays’ wife, Michelle, tells the Bangor Daily News he was scheduled to hand over the parts to a graduate student at a convenience store Monday.

When he arrived, he put the container of bits into a car with University of Maine plates, assuming it belonged to the student. It did not, and when he came back outside, the car was gone.

Michelle Mays says the fear is that someone will throw out the scallops.