Five people died in New Zealand on Saturday after their boat capsized in what is speculated to be a whale attack. Divers rescued six people from the boat. According to local authorities, the 28-foot boat overturned near the town of Kaikoura, and investigations into what caused the accident are still ongoing.
Matt Boyce, the police sergeant of Kaikoura, described the accident as shocking and unusual. When interviewed by the Associated Press, the officer gave his heartfelt condolences to the victims’ families and local communities and thanked the emergency services personnel for their efforts.
The police sergeant said that the police diving team had recovered the bodies of all five victims and that the six survivors had been taken for medical assessment at a local hospital and were stable. One of the survivors had been taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Christchurch.
The mayor of Kaikoura, Craig Mackle, said in an interview that they assumed that the cause of the accident was a whale that had risen from below the boat because the water was calm with no tides at the time the accident happened. The possibility of a whale attack was high, with sperm whales in the area and a few humpback whales traveling through the region.
Mr. Mackle applauded the locals for taking time out of their day and helping out with the rescue efforts. Even though they feared for the lives of the people who had fallen overboard, as the water turned icy cold in the evening, they still had hope.
Because whales frequent the region, Mackle said that the possibility of a boat and a whale colliding always was at the back of his mind.
The police did not publicly announce the victims’ names as they were still trying to locate and notify their loved ones.
A local by the name of Vanessa Chapman said that she had watched the unfolding rescue operations from Goose Bay, and that she remembers seeing someone sitting on top of the overturned boat waving their hands as if to alert people that they needed to be rescued. She narrated how two rescue helicopters and one local helicopter circled the scene before two divers jumped out and saved three people as she watched.
Kaikoura is a very popular destination for whale watchers. The area has become a home to some deep-sea creatures like whales and dolphins, and tourists can use charter boats and helicopters to see them.
According to the article posted by Daily Sabah on their Twitter handle, Maritime New Zealand, which is the state maritime authority that protects the marine environment and maintains safety and security, two investigators were working on the case and they will conduct a thorough investigation into the accident.