The body of Joel Kawahara, a Quilcene fisherman who had been missing at sea for nearly a month, was found on a remote West End beach Aug. 22, bringing the mystery of the fisherman’s disappearance to a close. 

“Backpackers reported a body on a beach less than a mile south of the Seafield Creek wilderness camp area,” wrote Molly Pittman, a public affairs specialist with Olympic National Park in an email. “Rangers and a search and rescue helicopter arrived at the rocky and remote site at 10:45 a.m. The helicopter crew transferred the body to the Clallam County Coroner at the William R. Fairchild International Airport around 12:11 p.m. The coroner’s office confirmed the identity and notified next of kin. 

“The cause of death was determined to be drowning,” wrote Rebecca Shankles, Medicolegal Death Investigator Manager and deputy coroner at the Clallam County Coroner’s Office, in a Sept. 8 email to The Leader. 

According to Pittman, the National Park Service is investigating the incident.

Kawahara, 70, departed Quilcene in his fishing vessel, the F/V Karolee, and was last heard from about 7:30 a.m. on August. 8 from the fishing grounds about 30 miles west of Neah Bay. After that last contact, the Karolee’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) indicated the boat maintained a constant speed of about four knots, heading on a constant southerly course for several days. 

AIS enables boats to broadcast their identity, position, course, and speed using VHF radio signals, allowing other AIS-equipped vessels to track and identify them.

By Aug. 10, after a weekend of no-contact, concern for Kawahara grew. Word went out up and down the West Coast over radios and social media urging the Coast Guard, boaters and fishermen to be vigilant in seeking signs of Kawahara. 

Coast Guard watchstanders made numerous call-outs to the Karolee and asked mariners in the area to do the same. No communication was ever received from the Karolee.

On the morning of Aug. 12, a Coast Guard C-27 fixed-wing aircrew from Air Station Sacramento responded to the vessel’s position and attempted to make contact, but nothing was heard. The aircrew visually noticed that the vessel was rigged for fishing, lights were energized, and a life raft was observed in its cradle.

The aircrew flew over the Karolee’s previous course but did not find any signs of distress. The crew then flew back to Sacramento.

Around noon the same day, watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s Northwest District command center dispatched an MH-60 helicopter from Air Station Astoria and Coast Guard Cutter Douglas Denman to assist in the search efforts. In addition, a boat crew from Coast Guard Station Neah Bay was launched and completed a shoreline search from Cape Flattery towards La Push, Wash.

The MH-60 searched for several hours in the waters west of Grays Harbor, Wash., and then returned to Astoria. The Douglas Denman arrived at the designated area by 8 p.m. and began searching, continuing through the night.

The crew searched the trackline the vessel traversed off the coast of Washington and Oregon to look for any signs of distress.

Coast Guard crews searched over 18 hours, scouring an area of 2,100 square miles, including over 430 miles of trackline.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s Southwest District command center diverted the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Lion to intercept the vessel and confirm if anyone was onboard.

The crew of the Sea Lion arrived on the scene with the Karolee around 10 a.m., Aug. 13, conducted a boarding, and confirmed no one was onboard. The Coast Guard crew also noted that all safety equipment was located onboard the vessel.

With no additional reports of distress or responses to callouts, the Coast Guard suspended the search. 

“Suspending a search for someone is the toughest decision we make in the Coast Guard” Cmdr. Chelsey Stroud, search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard’s Northwest District said at the time. “Our crews diligently searched hundreds of miles. We are grateful for the numerous Coast Guard crews along the West Coast who assisted in this search. We send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of the missing man.”

The crew of the Sea Lion took the Karolee in tow and brought it to Eureka, Calif., where it was transferred to a Station Humboldt Bay boat crew. 

Kawahara was born April 27, 1955, in Seattle, where he grew up in lower Queen Anne. He worked as a commercial fisherman and won the National Fisherman’s Highliner of the Year award in 2009. He was widely regarded as a tireless champion for salmon recovery.

A memorial is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Quilcene.