honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 12:05 p.m., Monday, February 28, 2005

Man drowns during whale cruise

Advertiser Staff

A man who was on a whale-watching cruise was pronounced dead at Straub Clinic & Hospital after he jumped in the water several miles offshore from Kewalo Basin, authorities said.

A crew member of the American Dream vessel who dove in the water after the 22-year-old man was not hospitalized.

Authorities said the man, a Japanese visitor, and the crew member went into the water about 11 a.m.

They were in the water 10-15 minutes before the ship circled and picked them up.

Dream Cruises, which owns the American Dream vessel, was recently fined $5,500 for a violation related to the death of a 3-year-old boy during a Dec. 25, 2003, whale-watch cruise.

Ryker Hamilton of Norfolk, Va., was aboard the American Dream with his parents and grandparents when the 76-foot vessel struck a humpback whale about a mile east of Diamond Head Buoy. The boy, who was in his father's arms, was jolted forward and struck his neck and head on a deck railing. The pair then fell backward and Ryker's head hit the deck. An autopsy determined the child died almost immediately when his spine was severed.

A Coast Guard investigation revealed that the boat captain was busy adjusting the volume of the public address system on the American Dream and "failed to maintain safe navigation" with whales nearby.