Inquiry launched after five birders lose their lives on photography trip off New Zealand coast

                                               

Tragic scene - the overturned vessel

INQUIRIES are this week continuing after  a weekend tragedy which claimed the lives of five birdwatchers - at least two of them being women - off the coast of New Zealand.

They were among a party of 10 members of Nature Photography Society of New Zealand who had paid 80 dollars (about £42.50) each for a three-hour charter boat trip to view a myriad of  seabirds including albatrosses, shearwaters, petrels, terns and Australasian gannets.

But, for reasons as yet unconfirmed, their 8.5-metre boat capsized.

The recovered vessel showed no sign of significant damage, and one theory is that it was flipped over by a migrating sperm or humpback whale.

Another is that it had overturned suddenly after all the passengers rushed to one side to view an unusual bird or other creature.

Half of those on board managed to clamber on to the upturned hull of the vessel where they waited for help.

Those involved with the rescue mission included other boat  tour operators, local fishermen and two Westpac helicopters.

The inquiry will seek to establish what the sea conditions had been like, what caused the accident and whether all safety precautions had been observed.

Survivors - including Mike Ealam of Fish Kaikoura Charters - will be interviewed.

It is not known if trip leader Jane Coulter was one of those who lost her life, but one of the women who died, Susan Cade, was a mental nurse.

Questions will  be asked about whether it is is appropriate for trips of this sort to take place in areas of sensitive wildlife.

The six survivors were assessed by medical personnel, and one was t treated in Christchurch Hospital before being discharged.

The tragedy occurred in Goose Bay, off  the small town of Kaikoura, once a whaling station, which  sits on the north east coast of the South Island.