Tonga’s government is investigating after a boat carrying more than a dozen whale watchers capsized in rough seas last Friday.
A second boat travelling with the group pulled passengers from the water while other whale watching boats came in to assist.
There were no casualties, but Tonga’s Ministry of Tourism says the boat wasn’t a licensed whale watching operator.
Archbishop Justin Duckworth, from the Anglican Church’s Diocese of New Zealand and Polynesia, says the passengers were in Tonga for a church conference when the incident happened.
“Some of them had diesel of them from the water, and so there was a check up at the hospital just to check that the diesel was off their body appropriately,” he said.
“Everybody was pretty rattled and just very glad that everybody was safe.”