A whitebaiter who died when he was swept out to sea at a river mouth in Wairarapa this afternoon was wearing a life jacket.
Police said they received a call about 2pm from a member of the public who noticed a local whitebaiter had been swept off his feet, into the water, and taken out to sea at Lake Ferry.
The 71-year-old man, who was local to the area, was wearing a life jacket and could be seen about 500m out from shore, police said.
Another member of the public jumped into the water and swam out to help the man, with a long line and buoyancy aid.
Both the whitebaiter and his rescuer were then pulled in to shore.
Police said emergency services worked to resuscitate the whitebaiter for over 40 minutes, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A staff member from Lake Ferry Hotel, who did not wish to be named, said emergency services arrived at the scene about 2.30pm today.
"He was whitebaiting and customers from the hotel spotted him ... scoop his net into the water, and he got swept out of the lake mouth and into the sea."
The hotel worker said staff rang emergency services straight away.
Eventually, a man jumped in to the water at the lake mouth and swam out to the whitebaiter.
"He put on a life vest and swam out to the man - but by the time he got to him he was unconscious."
She said emergency services at the scene then tried to resuscitate the man.
Lake Ferry Hotel is located on the shores of Lake Onoke.
The lake mouth is a popular spot for locals to fish, she said.
"It doesn't happen very often, it's obviously something that is a danger, but it is not a common occurrence."
She said man was a local to the area, and had been fishing in the spot for a while.
