Woman dies after being left behind by cruise ship on remote island

Authorities are investigating her death

She had been hiking on Lizard Island, which is 155 miles north of Cairns.

She was along the rest of the group from the Coral Adventurer cruise ship, but is believed to have split from the rest of the group in order to rest.

The ship left the island at sunset, but returned hours later after they realised the woman was not onboard.

They launched a major search operation, and found the woman's body on Sunday morning.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it's investigating the incident, and is due to meet the ship when it docks in Darwin this week.

Coral Expeditions chief executive Mark Fifield issued a statement confirming they are offering the woman's family support after her "tragic death".

"While investigations into the incident are continuing, we are deeply sorry that this has occurred and are offering our full support to the woman's family," he said.

Traci Ayris, who was sailing near the island at the time, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that she saw a helicopter searching the area on Saturday at around midnight.

Ayris says she saw around seven people searching the island, but that the search was called off at around 03:00 on Sunday.

"We knew she was dead because they called everyone back from the search immediately," she told the outlet.

"And no-one went to the spot that the chopper was hovering over until later that day when the police arrived."

She added: "It was very sad in this paradise to have this tragedy occur. It should have been a happy time for that lovely lady."