Five people have died, 21 were rescued and one is missing after a tour boat sank off Tofino on Sunday afternoon.
Lieut. Cmdr. Desmond James of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria confirmed the numbers, and said the vessel that sank was MV Leviathan II, operated by Jamie’s Whaling Station and Adventure Centres. It is partially submerged about eight nautical miles northwest of Tofino, he said.
A search of the ocean where the boat sank has ended.
Two people were airlifted by critical-care teams to a hospital outside Tofino, and a third was taken by ground ambulance, said Emergency Health Services spokeswoman Jen Hamilton. “A number of people who did actually need to go to hospital were being rewarmed in private homes and they were being observed by a paramedic,” she said. Three ground and two air ambulances were sent to the initial call, she said. “Many off-duty paramedics also came in to help.”
Valerie Wilson, a spokeswoman for Island Health, said 18 people were taken to Tofino General Hospital. Their conditions were not released.
A search for survivors continued into the night, with many area residents stepping in to help. “The Ahousaht First Nation, just anybody with a boat was helping,” a rescue centre spokesman said. A Cormorant helicopter, a Buffalo aircraft and a number of coast guard vessels were dispatched when the sinking was reported.
The vessel was on a whale watching trip with 27 people aboard when the crew made a mayday call about 4 p.m.
Joe Martin, a member of the Tal-o-qui-aht First Nation, was near the dock when the rescue boats began returning to Tofino. "I did see a boat come in with three bodies on board and then another one arrived and there were two."
Martin said two people were brought in on a Zodiac, where workers tried to resuscitate them but eventually covered them with blankets.
He said his brother and nephew were out halibut fishing when they saw the overturned boat and tried to help. Instead, the men pulled in three bodies, he said.
The ship was on the far side of Vargas Island in Clayoquot Sound, an area that Martin said could get really rough. "It wasn't even blowing hard (Sunday). This is the largest boat in Tofino and I was really surprised that it went down."
MV Leviathan II is a 65-foot covered boat with inside heated seating that can carry up to 46 people, the Jamie’s Whaling website says. It is equipped with a toilet, snack bar and liquor licence. At this time of year, Jamie's Whaling tours leave from Tofino daily at 1:30 p.m.
The company's website says it has helped adventure seekers "to explore the nooks and crannies of Clayoquot Sound and Barkley Sound since 1982." Jamie’s Whaling operates from Tofino and Ucluelet.
Boats from the nearby Ahoushat First Nation were the first on the scene, said Ahoushat Coun. Tom Campbell.
He was on the waterfront and watched as rescue personnel brought several of the survivors ashore.
"Their looks tell the whole story," he said on the phone from Tofino. "You can't describe looks on people that are lost. They look totally lost — shocked and lost."
Campbell, who wasn't on the water, said a cousin pulled at least eight people from the water into a boat on Sunday afternoon.
John Forde who runs The Whale Centre, another whale watching operation in the community, responded to the call for help and was told they were looking for four or five missing people.
"It's a pretty sad situation when you're doing a grid pattern to an area hoping to see something," he said, adding that it didn't look hopeful as the time dragged on without finding survivors.
Campbell said the First Nation was holding a meeting to discuss launching further rescue operations in the morning.
Forde said he had no idea what might have happened with Leviathan II. "Over the course of a season and years we take out thousands and thousands of people on these trips in conditions similar today. I have no idea what the issue was or what actually happened."
Jamie's was one of the first such whale watching operations on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Forde said.
"All the civilian boats were instructed by the coast guard and RCMP to come in when it got dark," said Jennifer Steven, also of the Whale Centre. The coast guard and others continued on, she said.
It was a horrible day in Tofino, Steven said. "The whale-watching community in Tofino is a really tight community, they look out for each other, they help each other so I think that everyone's devastated."
Fishing guide Lance Desilets was out on the water until sundown, helping to recover debris from the crash. He said the boat was capsized so just the bow was visible, sticking about 3.5 metres out of the water.
Two lifeboats were floating nearby, completely empty.
“There was lots of personal belongings floating around, purses, backpacks, cameras, that sort of thing. Pretty grim,” he said.
“When I left the scene there was still four or five people missing.”
Desilets described the area where the boat went down as very dangerous to navigate, peppered with submerged reefs and jagged rocks. He speculated that the vessel had stopped to view the sea lions that frequent the area before it went down.
“I’ve been a fishing guide in Tofino for 15 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s disturbing,” he said.
But Desilats said local residents rallied to help with the rescue, and more than a dozen volunteers vessels were out on the water.
“The town really came together,” he said.
Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne said news of the sinking hit hard in the community of about 2,000. "It's a shock and it's just a terrible tragedy."
She said residents were quick to offer any help they could. "It's nothing short of amazing to see the way the community responded, not only the marine community at the scene itself but also here in town -- just knowing how many individuals and businesses have come forth offering places to stay, homes, blankets, food, warmth and just simple human presence."
The aluminum Leviathan II was built in 1981 by Rivtow Industries, of Vancouver, and rebuilt in 1996, the federal vessel register states. It is 19.6 metres long, 4.6 metres wide, and a depth of 1.6 metres. The passenger vessel has two diesel engines and is capable of 20 knots. Its former name was Crown Forest 72-112.
Environment Canada reported winds of 12 to 19 knots and wave height of 2.6 to 2.9 metres in waters off Tofino on Sunday afternoon and an air temperature of around 14°C. It was clear and sunny.
In response to a comment on travellers’ website TripAdvisor regarding a slow start to a whale-watching trip (to repair a toilet) in September, Jamie’s Whaling said the Leviathan is not sold as a “fast” boat’, but "rather a relaxed, laid back cruise offering both outdoor and indoor seating areas. The sea conditions can impact the speed at which we travel and our skippers do their best to maintain a smooth ride, as guest comfort is a priority. For those seeking a ‘fast-paced’ experience we offer our open zodiac-style vessel.” The note was signed by Ryan.
In 1998, a smaller Jamie’s Whaling vessel capsized during a sightseeing excursion, sending all four people on board into the water, the Transportation Safety Board said. The operator and one of the passengers died.
The Transportation Safety Board confirmed it is investigating Sunday's sinking.
Tofino-based tour boat Leviathan II in a photo taken Sept. 30, 2015.
Photo by David Bly, Times Colonist
