A 52-year-old male visitor was reported drowned about noon Friday off Lumahai Beach on the North Shore. He was swept off the rocks and into the ocean, according to a county official. His name is being withheld pending notification of
A 52-year-old male visitor was reported drowned about noon Friday off Lumahai Beach on the North Shore.
He was swept off the rocks and into the ocean, according to a county official. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
He was the twelfth drowning victim this year.
Lumahai is where the movie “South Pacific” was filmed.
Rescue crews went to the scene, but Kaua’i County officials had no details on how the apparent drowning occurred.
By late Friday afternoon, family members of the victim were at Wilcox Memorial Hospital with Hospice counselors.
It was the second drowning in two days on Kaua’i. The 22-year-old man who drowned in the ocean near Po`ipu Thursday afternoon was identified yesterday as Jamie Yamamoto of Hanapepe.
Yamamoto was spearfishing with friends and relatives when the accident occurred, according to authorities.
Kaua’i Police reported that Yamamoto’s body was discovered about 130 yards off shore.
Officials said visitors from California assisted in bringing him to shore.
Emergency resuscitation efforts were conducted in the water and on shore before Yamamoto was transported by ambulance to Wilcox Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The exact cause of death is expected to be confirmed by autopsy.
Friday’s drowning was the 12th of this year, equal to the number of drownings recorded off Kaua’i’s beaches in 1999.
The last drowning before the two this week took place on Oct. 2, when Christine Limbach, a 33-year-old German tourist, drowned in rough sea near Hanakapi`ai Beach on the island’s north end.
Drowning deaths on Kaua`i in the past five years have far outstripped murders. There have been at least 55 reported drownings here since 1995. In that same time span, there were 14 homicides.
Forty of the 55 drowning victims were visitors.
From 1970 through this year, 205 people drowned in Kaua`i waters, according to statistics collected by The Edge of Kaua`i Investigations, a private investigation firm.
The most dangerous area on the island is the Hanakapi`ai area. Limbach was the 28th swimmer or diver to die there in the past 30 years.
The second most dangerous beach area since 1970 is Wailua/Lydgate, where 21 people (12 scuba divers and nine swimmers) perished.
Friday’s drowning was the 19th on Lumahai in the past 30 years.
Drowning deaths on Kaua`i were almost equally split between winter and summer.
Drowning deaths dropped to six in 1997 and four in 1998 after the current Kaua’i County administration appropriated funds to increase lifeguard staffing and buy more emergency equipment.
Earlier this year, the county and the Kaua`i Ocean Rescue Council produced a comprehensive water safety guide which was aimed at reducing drowning deaths, on the rise again in the past two years.
The brochure highlighted certain dangers and offered safety tips, such as: l It is best to swim in areas where there are lifeguards.
l Speak to a lifeguard about beach conditions before going into the water.
l Watch the ocean for 20 minutes before going in the water.
l Swim or snorkel with a buddy.
According to a study by the state department of Health the drowning rate per 100,000 “de facto” population is highest on Kaua`i at 45.5 compared to 35.9 for the Big Island and 11 percent on Oahu.
Forty-one percent of the state’s drowning deaths between 1993 and 1998 were non-residents.
Kaua`i led in the percentage of visitor drowning deaths – 74 percent of Kaua`i’s drowning deaths involved visitors. Maui was second with 65 percent of its drowning victims being visitors.
Oahu led the state in the percentage of swimming pool drownings with 13 percent of its drowning victims perishing in swimming pools compared to 3 percent for the rest of the state.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and dwilken@pulitzer.net
