Exactly how a person ended up in the water off Martha’s Vineyard on Monday, in the middle of a nor’easter storm, is under investigation by local police.
It was before 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 13, when a ferry crew on the Steamship Authority was traveling off Martha’s Vineyard in Woods Hole, according to the Falmouth Fire Department.
The ferry crew suddenly spotted a person in the water near Juniper Point and tried to save them, throwing out buoyant life rings and calling for help, the department said. The Falmouth police and fire departments sent out more people for the water rescue.
But given the ongoing storm conditions from the nor’easter sweeping across the state, the seas were too rough and visibility too poor for the first responders and the crew to rescue the person. They called the U.S. Coast Guard and the Harbor Master’s Office for help, the fire department said.
A Coast Guard helicopter flew to the scene, while officers on boats from the Coast Guard, Falmouth Fire Department and the Environmental Police began a coordinated search on the water.
The search began to shift to waters off of Nobska Point and at 4:25 p.m., after just under an hour of searching, the person was found by the the helicopter crew, the department said.
A rescue swimmer was sent from the helicopter to save the person, and the two were then hoisted aboard, the department said.
The person was then flown to land on Cape Cod and brought to Falmouth Hospital. Their condition was non-life threatening as of Monday night.
The Falmouth Police Department is investigating the circumstances of how the person entered the water, the fire department said.
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