Boy Fatally Injured on Whale-Watching Trip

A 3-year-old boy was fatally injured during a whale-watching trip after the captain tried to maneuver the boat around a humpback whale and the child fell against a railing, suffering injuries to his head and neck. He died at a hospital after being flown to shore by helicopter.

There does not appear to have been any wrongdoing by the captain during Thursday’s excursion, Coast Guard officials and the tour boat’s operator, Dream Cruises Hawaii, said.

The boy, Ryker Hamilton, was with his father, Ryan Hamilton of Norfolk, Va., when the whale surfaced near the boat about three miles south of Oahu.