Grim update on man overboard

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a man reported overboard today near Skagway in Southeast Alaska.

The Coast Guard identified the boat involved as the Darlin' Michele, out of Haines.

State records show the 48-foot vessel belongs to Theodore L. Lynch, of Haines.

Haines radio station KHNS reported the vessel captain and a deckhand were commercial shrimping in an inlet between Haines and Skagway when the 62-year-old skipper, believed to be Lynch, went overboard. Listen to the radio report here.

"It is always a very hard decision to make when you have to suspend a search for a man overboard," said Nick Meyers, a watchstander at the Coast Guard Sector Juneau command center. "Our hearts go out to the family, friends and the crew of the fishing vessel."

Man overboard reported near Skagway

The U.S. Coast Guard reports a search is under way for a man reported overboard from a fishing vessel near Skagway.

A press release does not name the lost man, nor the boat involved.

The Coast Guard says it received a call from Skagway police this afternoon saying the man had fallen overboard.

Efforts to pull him back aboard with a life ring failed, the Coast Guard says.

Two helicopters, a C-130 airplane, three good Samaritan vessels and Skagway emergency responders are involved in the search.

A marine mammal whodunit

The federal fish cops are investigating the possible illegal killing of marine mammals near Skagway.

"Since January, the carcasses of two Steller sea lions and three harbor seals have been discovered," the National Marine Fisheries Service said in a press release issued yesterday.

"Of the five deceased mammals, four showed signs of head trauma, and a bullet was recovered from one harbor seal skull during a necropsy."

Read more here.