RedactedNarrative: On 12-01-21 at 1848 hours, Alaska State Troopers received a report a vessel was sinking near Whittier.  Further investigation revealed a group of 2 vessels with 2 persons onboard each vessel had been hunting deer on Esther Island in Prince William Sound and were returning separately to Whittier on Wednesday afternoon. 
  One of the vessels arrived in Whittier at approximately 3:30 pm.  The other vessel, a 20-foot aluminum Lund skiff with two occupants and 4 deer and 2 seals on board, encountered inclement weather conditions on the way back to Whittier. 
  At 5:53 pm, the passenger contacted the other boat operator who was already en route back to Anchorage to report the bow of their vessel was underwater, they were 5 minutes outside of Whittier, and they were sinking.  On-scene weather at the time was described by the witness as seas of 6 feet with white caps on top of the waves, winds blowing 40 knots, and dark skies.  USCG D17 Juneau and USCG Sector Anchorage were contacted, and they immediately coordinated a multi SAR platform response utilizing a vessel and aircraft from Valdez, however, their response was slowed down due to bad weather while en route to the scene. Both occupants drowned, one was wearing a life jacket.