Video from whale cruise dramatic, but inconclusive
 |
Video: See a clip from a video shot during the whale-watching cruise |
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
A dramatic videotape shot moments before the accident that killed a 3-year-old boy on a whale-watching cruise was released yesterday by the attorney for the child's family, but details of what happened remain unclear.
Image from video courtesy L. Rick Fried Jr.
Honolulu attorney L. Rick Fried Jr. said he got the tape from one of the 15 witnesses that he spoke to after the family of the boy, Ryker Hamilton, retained him.
A videotape obtained by the attorney for the Hamilton family shows a whale surfacing close to the American Dream. See a clip from the video.
The video is 1 minute, 45 seconds long and shows a whale surfacing very close to the 76.7-foot vessel that Ryker was on with his parents, Ryan and Renee Hamilton of Norfolk, Va.
The video captures the whale after it had surfaced, with distance closing between the whale and the boat. Shortly afterward, there's a thud, the camera shakes and a spray of water appears.
Whether there was a collision between the whale and the boat is not evident in the videotape.
A passenger is heard saying "I can't believe we hit it (the whale)." Then Renee Hamilton is heard saying "move please" as she tries to make her way to her fallen son. Her pleas quickly turn to shrieks of anguish.
Ryker, who was with his father Ryan at the time of the accident, died after he fell and hit his head on the American Dream, a boat that pulled out of Kewalo Basin headed toward waters off Diamond Head. The boat is owned and operated by Dream Cruises Hawai'i.
A pediatric nurse visiting from Georgia administered CPR to the boy, who was knocked unconscious in the 10:15 a.m. incident and had to be airlifted to shore.
The Coast Guard is investigating the accident and issued a preliminary finding of no wrongdoing on the part of the ship's captain, Monroe Wightman.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Todd Offutt said yesterday he had not seen Fried's video, and the investigation is ongoing.
Photo courtesy Hamilton family
Offutt said Coast Guard investigators are reviewing more than 50 statements, documents, pictures, and video clips. He said investigators will construct a time line of events aboard the boat that morning leading up to the incident. In step with Department of Transportation regulations, the captain and crew of the boat were given drug tests, the results of which are still pending.
Ryan Hamilton; his wife, Renee; his mother, Sandra Hamilton; and Ryker head out on a whale-watching trip that would end in tragedy.
"The investigation could take five days, five weeks or five months," Offutt said. "A thorough investigation is the only way to ensure this accident was not in vain."
Fried said witnesses told him the captain and other passengers spotted a whale 300 to 400 yards away from the boat, and continued moving toward it at a quick speed until hitting it. Fried said witnesses told him the captain was inattentive at the time of the collision, having turned away from the water to look for something he dropped on the floor.
Fried said witnesses told him there was no attempt to maneuver around the whale. He said federal regulations state that a boat cannot get within 100 yards of a humpback, a fact also found in the boat's brochure.
"It has become quite clear there was some serious negligence on the part of the captain," Fried said.
Fried said the family wants to prevent such an incident from happening again. He said he hopes to settle out of court with the boat's insurance company but is prepared to file a lawsuit.
P. Michael Watson, president and co-owner of Dream Cruises Hawai'i, said he has not seen the tape. He said his company is cooperating with the Coast Guard's investigation, and is awaiting its conclusion. He said he is shocked at the accident and is sorry for the family. But he stands by his captain and the Coast Guard's initial assessment.
"I'm amazed at how quickly this has turned from a human tragedy to an issue of money," Watson said. "If I had to pick a captain to be driving the boat, Monroe would be it."
He said the captain is in his early 30s and has been with the company for 15 years.
Watson acknowledged Friday that the whale and the boat could have made contact, but said the captain did not feel, initially, that he had hit the whale.
The medical examiner's office said yesterday that Ryker died from blunt force injuries of the head and neck because of the boat accident.
Thousands of whales travel from their feeding grounds off Alaska to Hawai'i every winter, drawing thousands of people aboard whale-watching tours every year.
Close encounters between boats and whales are not uncommon because the animals are unpredictable and sometimes difficult to spot.
Three collisions were reported early this year, during the end of the previous whale season, which typically runs from December through April.
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.
