MIAMI A diver from New Mexico who died in a Thanksgiving Day boating accident was a manager at one of the nation's leading research laboratories who was in Florida for a holiday dive trip with her nephew, authorities said Friday.

The Broward County Medical Examiner ruled Friday that Nina Poppelsdorf, 54, drowned after Thursday when a large wave flipped over a 45-foot catamaran carrying her and nearly two-dozen others.




Poppelsdorf was a leader of a Sandia team that helped in the response to the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami left several reactors there without cooling water, Fong said. He also said Poppelsdorf was a certified diving instructor.

The Coral Princess is a Corinthian catamaran owned by South Florida Diving Headquarters in Pompano Beach. A phone message left Friday by The Associated Press for the owner of the boat was not immediately returned.

Three of the 23 people on the boat were treated and released. Most of them were from out of town on vacation, authorities said



The accident remains under investigation.

[link to news.yahoo.com]