The five British nationals killed in Sunday’s tragic whale watching accident off Tofino, B.C. have all been identified, including a 29-year-old woman who had been living in Whistler.
Katie Taylor was among the victims found dead after the Leviathan II cruiser capsized near Vargas Island, the BC Coroners Service confirmed Tuesday, as was 63-year-old Nigel Francis Hooker of Southampton, England.
The other three victims’ identities had already been reported; they were Jack Slater, a 76-year-old who was living in Toronto, and David and Stephen Thomas, a father and son from Swindon, England.
Slater’s daughter confirmed her dad’s identity in a mournful Facebook post on Tuesday.
“Our hearts are broken today,” Michele Slater Brown wrote. “Dad was larger than life, a charmer, handsome, entrepreneur, engineer in the Navy… I will miss him forever but I’m grateful for all the times I spent with him.”
“I love you dad.”
David Thomas, 50, and his son Stephen, 18, were remembered by the Down’s Syndrome Association UK, which described the father as a “huge supporter” and “one of the driving forces behind the Swindon Down’s Syndrome Group where he was a trustee.”
It also paid tribute to Stephen, who had Down syndrome, noting the young man’s gift for photography that he’d been developing since he was eight years old.
Last year, Stephen won a photo competition put on by the association for an image he took in Moraine Lake, in Alberta’s Banff National Park.
The pair was on the whale watching boat with Stephen’s mother, who survived.
“All our thoughts and condolences are with the Thomas family at this terrible time,” the association said in a statement.
The Swindon Advertiser newspaper has reported David Thomas was an employee at Microsoft UK, where the company's vice president and general manager, Michel Van der Bel, said employees are shocked by the deaths.
"Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with their family, friends and David's colleagues and we will be doing everything we can to support them," Van der Bel told the paper.
There is another brother back on the UK who is on his way to Canada to be with his mother, reports say.
The BC Coroners Service said all of the victims’ families were notified before their names were released, and thanked the British consulate for assisting in their efforts to pass on the terrible news.
The agency said coroners intend to perform post-mortems on some of the bodies, meaning they might not be released back to their families for months.
“It could take anywhere from nine months to a year,” regional coroner Matt Brown told reporters.
Meanwhile, rescue crews continued searching Tuesday for an Australian man who remains missing days after the accident.
Facebook posts identified Sydney resident Rav Pillay, 27, with supportive comments from friends and family.
“We are praying for Rav,” said Nicole Neethling. “Hoping for a miracle.”
Co-workers from Australia told CTV News that Pillay’s parents are coming to Canada to do what they can to help the search.
Pillay’s girlfriend is the daughter of Nigel Hooker, who is among those dead in the accident.
‘People here stepped up’
On Tuesday afternoon, B.C. Premier Christy Clark held a press conference to applaud the people who rushed to help after the accident, who included members of the Ahousaht First Nation, local boaters from Tofino, and fellow whale watching tour operators.
Together, the Good Samaritans “really demonstrated the true spirit of British Columbia,” Clark said.
“The people who know this coast so well, when there was a crisis, when there were lives at risk, people here stepped up and stepped in and saved lives.”
The premier, who grew up on the coast and is the daughter of a fisherman, said when she was eight years old, her sister and dad were also in a boating accident. Both were saved by strangers who rushed to their aide.
“I think a lot of us on the coast will have a story like that,” she said.
Clark said to recognize the brave actions demonstrated over the weekend, she will be nominating the Chief of the Ahousaht First Nation and the Mayor of Tofino for citizenship awards on behalf of their communities.
Among the people who stepped up on Sunday was Clarence Smith, who pulled 13 people from the water, including one man who was clinging to the boat in the frigid waters.
“Then I heard these voices in the water – two ladies clinging to each other about 100 feet away from us so we went and picked them up,” he told CTV News.
A potluck gathering of hundreds of people was held at a local community centre Monday night as the tight-knit community began to heal after the tragedy.
Consular officials from the U.K. and Australia are offering assistance to the survivors.
“People are connected in communities in the UK too. We feel it as a nation when this happens overseas,” says Rupert James Potter, the British Consul General in Vancouver, who traveled to Tofino.
“When you see your citizens involved in tragic incidents overseas then it concerns people. People are understandably hungry for information. Our priority is to look after the family and friends involved.”
A four-person team from the Transportation Safety Board will spend the next few days collecting evidence, including interviewing the crew and passengers and looking at recent weather and water patterns.
"Investigations are complex and take time to complete. However, should the investigation team uncover safety deficiencies that present an immediate risk; the board will communicate them without delay," said Marc-Andre Poisson, Director of Marine Investigations.
Jamie’s Whaling Station, the company that owns the boat, is cooperating with the TSB probe and says they are dumbfounded about what happened.
Owner Jamie Bray says the boat’s skipper has 20 years marine experience, including 18 with his company.
Bray said the Leviathan II visited the same location twice daily for years without incident.
“I think the whole community has experienced the same emotions,” Bray said, his eyes tearing up. “We’re all traumatized.”
Jamie’s Whaling Station has a long history in the area, offering guiding tours for more than 30 years.
