An elderly passenger on a cruise ship has died on a remote island after becoming separated from her group.
The body of the 81-year-old woman was found on Sunday on Lizard Island, part of the Great Barrier Reef, about 27km off Cooktown in far north Queensland.
Police said she was reported missing on Saturday after “failing to board a vessel”.
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Her death is being treated as “sudden and non-suspicious”.
It is understood the woman was travelling solo on a Coral Expeditions cruise, as part of a 60-day voyage.
A chopper was seen hovering above the area. Credit: Traci Ayris
She had joined a group of passengers on a hike to the island’s highest peak, Cook’s Look on Saturday, when she said she needed to stop and turn back.
It is understood the group continued without her, and only realised she was missing up to five hours after boarding the vessel.
Her body was found 50m off the walking track.
Witness Traci Ayris, who was on a sailing yacht anchored in the bay where the woman was last seen, told 7NEWS she saw a helicopter hovering over the area.
“The search started around midnight with chopper and the crew searched until 3am,” Ayris said.
Ayris saw the ship left the island before returning to conduct the search. Credit: Traci Ayris
She said when the helicopter returned the next day, it became a retrieval rather than a rescue operation.
She added the cruise ship left the island on Sunday afternoon, with staff “possibly having no idea”, before returning hours later to conduct the search.
“All of us on our boats in the bay were saddened by the events,” Ayris said.
“It was immensely tragic that the hiker had not strayed far from the path that we ourselves had hiked the day before.”
In a statement, Coral Expeditions CEO Mark Fifield confirmed the death of one of the company’s passengers and expressed his condolences to the woman’s family and friends.
“On Saturday October 25, the crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea,” Fifield said.
The woman was a guest on a Coral Expeditions cruise. Credit: Coral Expeditions/Facebook
“Following the operation, Coral Expeditions was notified by Queensland Police that the woman had been found deceased on Lizard Island.
“While investigations into the incident are continuing, we are deeply sorry that this has occurred and are offering our full support to the woman’s family.
“The Coral team have been in contact with the woman’s family, and we will continue to offer support to them through this difficult process.”
Lizard Island is surrounded by coral reefs and is renowned for scuba diving and snorkelling.
An elderly woman from a tourist cruise ship has died on an island. Credit: Google Maps
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