U.S. Coast Guard Probes Long Beach Sinking Boat

 A sinking boat with no one on board off of Long Beach Saturday drew the attention of passing fin whales, other vessels and the U.S. Coast Guard.

 Captain Chris Batts of the Christopher out of Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach had an exciting morning. Besides seeing six gray whales and four fin whales along with hundreds of dolphin, the passengers on board also saw a boat sinking about nine miles off of Long Beach.

 “It looked like about a 35-foot yacht,” said Batts. "I heard that she had trouble around 7 a.m. but we came upon her around 10, and she was about three-fourths underwater.”

The United States Coast Guard was on scene with a boat as well as a helicopter circling for survivors in the water.

 The sinking boat seemed to attract the curiosity of the passing fin whales too. “They (whales) seemed to slow down and circle the sinking boat,” said Batts. “It was as though they were checking it out.”

 U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer First Class Adam Eggers said that details were lacking and due to the nature of the way the ship sank, a higher level of scrutiny is appropriate.

 Eggers said that the Coast Guard was alerted that a ship was sinking off Long Beach on Saturday morning. “The Coast Guard arrived on scene and found a 35-foot sportfisher sinking,” said Eggers.

 No passengers were on board nor in the water, according to the Coast Guard, which flew over the site looking for possible survivors. The search and rescue was later called off. Eggers said that the Coast Guard is trying to determine how and why the boat sank and whether it was intentional or not.

 You can hear Captain Chris Batts live from the Christopher on Saturday morning describing to Patch columnist of Philip Friedman Outdoors the sinking ship, as well as reporting on the whales that were the real stars of the outing.