Timeline in capsizing of whale-watching boat off Tofino, B.C.
VICTORIA — Six people died when the whale-watching boat Leviathan II capsized just west of Tofino, B.C. Here is a timeline of events:
Oct. 25, 2015: Leviathan II left Tofino at 1:30 p.m. on a whale watching tour, with 24 passengers and three crew members on board. Around 3:45 p.m., the vessel capsized, sending everyone on board into the water.
Oct. 27, 2015: Marc Andre Poisson of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the initial on site investigation finds most of the passengers and crew were on one side of the top deck when wave approached the vessel from the opposite side. He said that would have raised the centre of gravity, affecting vessel stability. Poisson said the vessel tilted up, rolled and capsized. One life raft was deployed and activated; two hand flares and one parachute rocket were fired.
Nov. 23, 2015: Survivor Dwayne Mazereeuw of Calgary says he was on board the Leviathan II with his wife Elisa when a giant wave hit the boat and tossed them and 25 others into the rolling waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island.