Sitka man collapses, dies during apparent seal hunt

From The Associated Press:

The U.S. Coast Guard says a rescue helicopter rushed to help a stricken sailor off Sitka, but a flight surgeon who had been lowered into his boat was unable to revive him.

The guard says 72-year-old Sitka resident Ralph Guthrie and his wife were seal hunting Saturday when he collapsed aboard his 40-foot skiff.

His wife made an emergency call and the Coast Guard quickly launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew that included the surgeon and a rescue swimmer.

After the two were lowered into the craft, the swimmer moved the skiff to a nearby beach and both crew members worked to revive him. But the guard says that Guthrie died despite their efforts.

Note: The Coast Guard says authorities are looking at whether Guthrie was legally hunting seal.

“We don’t know if the people were out there under a subsistence grant or not," said Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosely.

Mosley said the Coast Guard also rescued two stranded boaters suffering mild hypothermia near Kalgan Island in Cook Inlet yesterday.