A woman who "gave a great deal to Kaikōura" has died in a boat fire off the coast of Southern California.
Scientist Dr Adrian Dahood-Fritz, 40, studied dolphin behaviour for her Masters in the coastal South Island town and worked closely with Dolphin Encounter Kaikōura.
Thirty-four people have been confirmed dead after a dive-boat packed with scuba divers, caught fire off the coast of Southern California on Monday (local time).
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Authorities have since called off the search for survivors.
Both Dahood-Fritz and her husband, Andrew Fritz, 40, were asleep on board the dive-boat when the vessel caught fire. The couple had been living in Taylor, Texas.
Five crew members sleeping on the top deck were able to escape by jumping off the vessel. They were rescued by a nearby pleasure boat.
Kaikōura Ocean Research Institute said they were "deeply saddened" by the death of Dahood-Fritz and her husband in a Facebook post on Thursday morning.
"She gave a great deal to Kaikoura, always with a smiling face full of energy," the institute wrote.
Dahood-Fritz studied dusky dolphin feeding behaviour at night for her Masters, and spent much of her time recording their daily movements from Haumuri bluffs and their distribution. She went on to work with wildlife and policy in Antarctica.
Women in Polar Science says "her Antarctic family [are] bereft at the loss."
"Polar research is such a communal career. To be successful in this field you need to be as good at forging and maintaining relationships, across disciplines and nationalities, as you are at conducting your research," Dahood-Fritz said about her career in 2018.
She recently completed her PhD and had started working on climate issues for the State of California, according to a post by the Society for Marine Mammalogy Student Affairs.
"She was a brilliant scientist, a wonderful friend, and immensely dedicated to preserving all the animals on this planet. We will miss her immensely," said the post.
Newshub.
