Activist Drowns After Leading Protest Flotilla

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — An environmental activist drowned in Keauhou Bay shortly after he led boaters and surfboarders in a demonstration against a geothermal project, authorities said.

Dexter Cate, 47, was diving from a kayak Tuesday when he failed to surface, police Lt. Errol Ishimine said. His body was recovered from 80 feet of water and his death was classified as an accident, Ishimine said.

Cate had led the flotilla to protest a state-backed plan to build geothermal power plants in the Wao Kele O Puna rain forest. The demonstration took place near a hotel where an international symposium on geothermal energy was meeting.