Dramatic survival stories revealed in new Tofino whale-watching lawsuit claims

In the moments before disaster struck the Leviathan II whale-watching boat near Tofino, B.C., Robert Goodfellow was heading to an inside cabin hoping to relieve his seasickness. 

His partner, Marya Levin, had decided to stay on the upper outside deck to continue viewing a group of sea lions.

When the huge wave hit — rolling the boat onto its side and eventually right over — Goodfellow and Levin were both dragged under the freezing water, where they remained submerged for some time before swimming toward daylight and the surface.

These are just some of the details laid out in one of two new Federal Court lawsuits filed against Jamie's Whaling Station, the company that operated the Leviathan II, which capsized and sank near Tofino on Oct. 25, 2015. 

Six foreign tourists died in the capsizing.

According to the documents, Goodfellow and Levin, both from North Vancouver, grabbed a floating cushion and began scrambling for their lives, kicking to get away from the still-turning propellers of the Leviathan II as it drifted toward them. 

"They were surrounded in oil, breathing and swallowing oily water in rough sea conditions," states the claim.

"Through determination and will to survive, Robert and Marya, after some 45 minutes, reached the lifeboat where three crew members were already on board."

Escape through submerged stairwell

The second claim details the equally harrowing story of Ian Charles and Jill Zaparyniuk, a married couple from Edmonton.

Zaparyniuk was on the main deck when the wave struck, pinning her against the ship's railing as it overturned.

She first swam to an air pocket, surfacing under the vessel. She then swam through a stairwell into a lower cabin searching for her husband. She found him and several other passengers submerged up to their shoulders in rising seawater.  

Charles attempted to free everyone by kicking out the cabin windows, but he wasn't able to break through. That's when it became clear that the only way to escape would be by retracing Zaparyniuk's path by swimming through the submerged stairwell. 

According to the claim, "Jill swam downwards through the stairwell ... and then was sucked by the current of seawater through a submerged opening and up through the seawater to light and eventually air."

Charles didn't make it on his first attempt, but "again dove under the water and with all his energy swam down through the stairwell and then was pushed up to the surface."  

The couple were then picked up by a rescue boat. 

None of the allegations has been proven in court and the cause of the accident remains under investigation. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is expected to release its report next year. 

Last year, in response to a civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Jamie Bray, the owner of Jamie's Whaling Station denied allegations of negligence, suggesting the accident was an "act of God."

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