Scientist dies in boat fire

A woman who ‘‘gave a great deal to Kaiko¯ ura’’ has died along with 33 others in a boat fire off the coast of Southern California.

Scientist Dr Adrian Dahoodfritz, 40, known for a ‘‘smiling face’’ and being ‘‘full of energy’’ studied dolphins in Kaiko¯ ura for her masters degree.

Dahood-fritz and husband Andrew Fritz, 40, from Michigan in the United States, were asleep on board a dive boat on Monday when a fire started, Statesman reported.

Thirty four people have been confirmed dead after a boat packed with scuba divers caught fire near an island off the Southern California coast and authorities have called off the search for survivors.

Kaiko¯ura Ocean Research Institute posted to Facebook yesterday morning saying they were ‘‘deeply saddened’’ by the loss of Adrian Dahood-fritz and her husband.

‘‘For her masters, Adrian did wonderful work looking at dusky dolphin feeding behaviour at night,’’ the post said.

‘‘She also spent many hours recording their daily movements from Haumuri bluffs and by working with Dolphin Encounter Kaiko¯ura to study their distribution.

‘‘She gave a great deal to Kaiko¯ ura, always with a smiling face full of energy, before moving on to do incredible work with wildlife and policy in Antarctica.’’

Marlborough Express reported about Dahood-fritz’s work in 2006 saying she was leading dolphin research in the area along with two others.

Facebook page Women in Polar Science re-posted a photo of Dahood-fritz from 2018.

‘‘Adrian truly was fantastic at both her work and forging relationships across the globe – she leaves her Antarctic family bereft at the loss.’’ In 2018, Dahood-fritz said polar research was a communal career.

‘‘To be successful in this field you need to be as good at forging and maintaining relationships, across disciplines and nationalities, as you are at conducting your research,’’ she said.

The US Coast Guard and police said no-one has been found alive after flames tore through the dive boat early on Monday as passengers on a recreational scuba diving trip slept below deck.

The Conception carried 33 passengers and six crew members. Only five of the crew sleeping on the top deck were able to escape by jumping off. They were rescued by a pleasure boat moored nearby.