Survivors of the accident said the ferry had been struck by another faster moving boat, and then sank too rapidly for passengers to put on life jackets and exit the vessel.

FORBES: Hong Kong Ferry Collision Leaves At Least 36 Dead

Rom Kulleh, a political aide who flew in a helicopter over the river shortly after the accident, said he and his state legislator boss saw the overturned boat.

NPR: Ferry Capsizes In Malaysian River, 21 Missing

Bill Foster, a fisherman from Hatteras, North Carolina, and Dr Read, proposed the project because the Pamlico Sound near Hatteras was closed to large-mesh gill nets (which are dragged behind a boat like a curtain) for four months a year because too many turtles were being caught by accident.

ECONOMIST: Oceanography