“We maximized our efforts throughout the search, always with the hope of locating the man alive,” Coast Guard Captain Richard Schultz said in a statement. “When we lose a fellow mariner, it is felt across the entire marine community.”

Coast Guard crews suspended the search at about 12:30 p.m., when the man, who has not been identified, was found unresponsive. He was taken to shore, where he was declared dead.

A man was found dead in Cape Cod Canal on Sunday afternoon after a 22-hour search that started when a 30-foot boat was found unmanned and with its engine running in Buzzards Bay.


The search spanned about 400 nautical miles, including Buzzards Bay and the west entrance of Cape Cod Canal, the Coast Guard statement said.

At about 3:45 p.m. Saturday, a crew member in a commercial vessel spotted the unmanned boat as it made its way into the west entrance of Cape Cod Canal, an earlier statement said. The boat was later secured at a town dock in Onset.

Coast Guard teams searched for the boater throughout the night between Buzzards Bay and Nye’s Neck in southeastern Massachusetts. Crews in a 45-foot boat and a 29-foot boat assisted, as well as a helicopter crew.

Earlier on Sunday, strong winds and choppy waters were making the search increasingly difficult, said Petty Officer Third Class Nicole J. Groll, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard in Boston. The National Weather Service issued a gale warning for the Buzzards Bay area until 9 p.m. Sunday, with wind gusts expected to reach up to 30 miles per hour.

Coast Guard Cutter Ocracoke, local agencies and “good Samaritans” helped in the search, according to the release, in addition to several local agencies.

Miguel Otárola can be reached at miguel.otarola@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @motarola123. Felicia Gans can be reached at felicia.gans@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @FeliciaGans.