Body found near Queen’s Bath

PRINCEVILLE — A body was recovered from a pool of water near Queen’s Bath Sunday afternoon, but the death is not being reported as a drowning.

Kaua‘i Police Department received a call at 11:57 a.m. from a bystander who reported the discovery of a body off of the trail leading to Queen’s Bath. Kaua‘i Fire Department personnel responded and declared the victim dead at the scene, according to county spokeswoman Sarah Blane.

Police were sent to the scene as KFD Air 1 helicopter recovered the body from the shoreline area. There was no missing person report prior to the discovery, according to Blane.

Police plan an autopsy today to determine  the identity of the body and the time, place and cause of death.

While drowining is not being reported as the cause of death in this instance at this time, seven adults, ages 33 to 68 years old, have drowned in this area, according to “Drowning Deaths in the Nearshore Marine Waters of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, 1970-2009,” a 2011 report published by Charles Troy Blay of Human Kinetic. Six of the victims were visitors.

The last reported injury was July 3, when a 42-year-old Princeville woman reportedly injured herself while attempting to swim at Queen’s Bath, and had to be airlifted by Air-1 to Wilcox Memorial Hospital for treatment.

There is no lifeguard station on the remote and rocky shoreline of Queen’s Bath and nearby Turtle Cove. Surf in the area is considered dangerous from November through March, but people are told to be cautious year-round as the slippery lava rock beach in the Princeville area east of Hanalei Bay is considered hazardous.

Queen’s Bath is accessible by a coastal path where waves can present a hazard on the hike as much as in the pond itself .