Post-mortem after Sounds death

A post mortem will determine whether an American tourist who died while swimming with dolphins in the Marlborough Sounds yesterday drowned.

The 27-year-old woman was on a Dolphin Watch EcoTours trip with her husband and mother-in-law.

She was found face down in the water after jumping in the Tory Channel with a group of swimmers yesterday morning.

A doctor on the trip and coastguard rescue workers were unable to revive her.

Senior Constable Brett Parkinson of Picton said the woman's death looked like a drowning but he was unable to say for sure.

"She may have had a medical condition we don't know about, or even she didn't know about," he told The Dominion Post.

"We do know she was very excited about the idea of being with the dolphins. A witness told us she had no qualms about going out."

He said an post mortem would be carried out today to determine the cause of death.

Maritime NZ and the Labour Department were determining whether an investigation would take place.

Dolphin Watch Ecotours directors Dan and Amy Engelhaupt had intended to speak to media at a press conference yesterday, but cancelled that after advice from police.

- NZPA