
Four bodies have been recovered and four more have been found on the ocean floor near the 75-foot dive boat that caught fire off the coast of Southern California, federal and local authorities said on Monday.

Lt Cmdr Matthew Kroll told AP the bodies recovered on Monday morning had injuries consistent with drowning.

Authorities in Santa Barbara told reporters on Monday evening that the four recovered bodies are of two adult men and two adult women. Their bodies have been sent to the medical examiner.

Scuba divers involved in the search and rescue effort have spotted four more bodies, according to authorities.

Divers are in the process of recovering those victims.

The boat is currently lying inverted on the seabed. Authorities say it is too unstable at the moment to recover.

Coast Guard Capt. Monica Rochester says the search for more than two dozen other missing persons will go on into Tuesday morning but that but people should be prepared for 'the worst outcome.'

Rescue crews are still searching for 26 people who were sleeping below deck on the vessel Conception when it burst into flames in the middle of the night while anchored 20 yards off of Platts Harbor on the north side of Santa Cruz Island.

Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach received a mayday call just before 3.30am local time Monday.

Crews from the Coast Guard, Santa Barbara Fire Department, Ventura County Fire Department and Vessel Assist responded to the scene, along with multiple personal watercraft in the area.

Five Conception crew members who were awake and on deck when the fire broke out jumped into the water and were rescued by a Good Samaritan boat called the Grape Escape, said Rochester of the Coast Guard's Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, said at a 9am press conference.

Dozens of people are feared to have died after a 75-foot dive boat burst into flames off the coast of California early Monday. Officials say five people have been rescued, four bodies recovered and 29 are currently missing

The vessel was anchored by Platts Harbor on the north side of Santa Cruz Island when it caught fire in the middle of the night

Emergency crews received a call about the fire just before 3.30am local time on Monday, and rescue efforts involving multiple agencies continued for several hours. At 8am an official reported the boat had burned down to the water line

Crews from the Coast Guard, Santa Barbara Fire Department, Ventura County Fire Department and Vessel Assist responded to the scene, along with multiple personal watercraft in the area

This image made from video released by TowBoatUS Ventura shows an emergency responder dousing Conception before it sank off Santa Cruz Island early Monday morning

Kristy Finstad, 41, of Santa Cruz was among the divers helping to lead the expedition aboard the Conception, which caught fire in the early morning hours on Monday

Four of the crew members were taken to the hospital and two had sustained leg injuries.

The captain remained at the scene working with rescue crews as search efforts headquartered at Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard are ongoing.

Rochester said the Conception sank in 64 feet of water as crews worked to extinguish the flames. The bow of the boat is still above water.

Authorities said on Monday to prepare for the worst news as there are fears that the remaining victims may still be inside the boat.

'We're still holding hope that someone may have swam to shore,' Santa Barbara County Fire Department PIO Mark Eliason told CNN.

'When they anchor overnight they're pretty close to shore. We have to hope, but we plan for worst case scenario.'

The boat was operated by tour company Truth Aquatics, whose owners are working with investigators and have declined to comment on the tragedy.

In a chilling recording of the mayday call, the Conception captain, Jerry Boylan, can be heard telling a Coast Guard dispatcher that all of his passengers are trapped below deck 'with no escape hatch'.

'There's 33 people on board the vessel on fire. They can't get off,' the captain says.

The dispatcher responds: 'Roger. Are they locked inside the boat? Roger. Can you get back on board and unlock the doors so they can get off? Roger. You don't have any firefighter gear at all, no fire extinguishers or anything?'

Most of the captain's responses are unintelligible, except for the words: 'I can't breathe.'

He confirms that all the crew jumped off and the vessel is fully engulfed in flames.

Santa Barbara City Search and Rescue officers move a recovered body on the dock at Santa Barbara Harbor on Monday

Lt Cmdr Matthew Kroll told AP the bodies recovered on Monday morning had injuries consistent with drowning

The majority of Conception's passengers have still not been located hours after the fire

People hug each other as they await news outside of the Truth Aquatics office in Santa Barbara on Monday

The dive boat called Conception was anchored on the north side of Santa Cruz Island when it went up in flames

USCG Los Angeles reported the incident on Twitter at about 5.30am, writing: 'The Coast Guard has launched multiple rescue assets along with assets from local agencies to assist more than 30 people in distress on a 75ft boat near Santa Cruz Island.

'More details will be available later as this operation continues.'

About 30 minutes later the agency tweeted: 'The vessel was reported as being on fire. The group of crew members has been rescued (one with minor injuries) and efforts continue to evacuate the remaining passengers.'

Ventura County PIO spokesman Bill Nash said the death toll is unclear but there are believed to be 'numerous' fatalities.

'It's a large boat, and we know we have numerous fatalities. I don't have an exact number,' Nash told CNN.

He said the fire was about 20 miles off the coast of Channel Islands National Park. Santa Cruz Island is about 18 miles from the mainland and about 60 miles west of Los Angeles.

'We are not sure where it falls jurisdictionally; it's Coast Guard, Santa Barbara or Ventura,' he said.

'Where that plays in, after we figure out what we've got, it's where to transport the bodies.'

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team, led by board member Jennifer Homendy, to investigate the accident.

Coast Guard Captain Monica Rochester, Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, is seen at a press conference in Oxnard

Search and rescue efforts are ongoing as of 10am Monday. USCS vessels are seen returning to the Coast Guard Station Channel Islands in Oxnard for refueling

The Grape Escape, whose crew helped rescue the Conception crew, is seen at the Coast Guard Station Channel Islands

Rescuers were unable to board the boat to check for survivors before it sank because it kept reigniting, Coast Guard Senior Chief Aaron Bemis said.

'It keeps being extinguished and re-flashing, possibly due to the amount of fuel on board. Unsure why, but it's consistently being put out and re-flashing,' Bemis said about two hours into the rescue mission.

'Multiple coast guard and local Ventura County Fire Department assets on scene, but we're not able to yet breach the hull and see if there's any survivors at this point.'

The Coast Guard said there were 39 people onboard the boat at the time it caught fire. Thirty-four passengers reportedly got trapped below deck by the blaze.

Authorities obtained a manifest of who was on the boat but have not released any identifications.

Family members looking for information about their loved ones have been told to call (833) 688-5551.

Four of the crew members who made it off the boat were transported to the hospital. First responders are seen bringing an injured man to an ambulance at Channel Island Harbor in Oxnard

Two of the people rescued from the boat are being treated for leg injuries

A man draped in blankets is seen being loaded into an ambulance on a gurney after being rescued from the boat

An ambulance is pictured at the scene where casualties and walking wounded were being brought in from the boat

The captain of the Grape Escape, whose crew rescued the Conception crew members after the blaze broke out, is seen with first responders at Channel Island Harbor on Monday morning

The image above shows the man believed to be Jerry Boylan, the captain of the Conception

The Conception is owned by Truth Aquatics and based in Santa Barbara Harbor.

At the time of the fire it was on a three-day trip to the pinnacles of San Miguel Island, according to the Truth Aquatics website.

One of the divers who helped organize the trip, a marine biologist from California who was described by family as a ‘free spirit’, is among those feared dead.

Kristy Finstad, 41, of Santa Cruz was among the divers helping to lead the expedition aboard the Conception.

Finstad’s brother, Brett Harmeling, 31, posted a message on his Facebook page which read: ‘Please pray for my sister Kristy!! She was leading a dive trip on this boat.’

James Miranda, left, of Santa Barbara, takes a moment at a dock near the Sea Landing at Santa Barbara Harbor

Orlando Aldana, 42, of Santa Barbara, bought 34 candles in honor of the victims to place at the growing memorial for those caught in the fire on the Conception boat

The image above shows a pair of diving fins and flowers at a memorial wall near the Truth Aquatics moorings where the boat that burned and sank off the Santa Cruz islands early in the morning was based

Flowers float in the water near the Sea Landing at Santa Barbara Harbor on Monday

Finstad helped organize the trip with her husband, Dan Chua, through their family-owned company, Worldwide Diving Adventures.

The Conception was chartered by Worldwide Diving Adventures, which says on its website that it has been taking divers on such expeditions since the 1970s.

It was owned and operated by Truth Aquatics, a Santa Barbara-based company founded in 1974.

Chua did not accompany his wife on the trip. Instead, he was leading a separate diving expedition in Costa Rica, according to Finstad's brother, Brett Harmeling.

Passengers boarded the boat on Friday night and it took off from Santa Barbara Harbor on Saturday morning. It was expected to return Monday evening.

The boat has sleeping space for 46 passengers. The Labor Day weekend trip was described on the website as 'designed by divers for divers' and came with a price tag of $665 per person.

Coast Guard Captain Rochester said the boat appears to have been in full compliance and that it was authorized to be anchored at the scene of the fire in Platts Harbor.

The boat is owned by diving company Truth Aquatics and based in Santa Barbara Harbor (stock image)

Conception reportedly departed from Santa Barbara Harbor on Friday night for a Labor Day weekend trip to the pinnacles of San Miguel Island and was expected to return Monday evening, according to the Truth Aquatics website (stock image)

The dive boat has bunk space for up to 46 passengers. The interior layout is seen above

Conception departed from Santa Barbara Harbor early Saturday for a Labor Day weekend trip to San Miguel Island and was expected to return Monday evening, according to the Truth Aquatics website. The route is seen in the map above