A gruesome discovery of the lifeless body of an adult male in waters near the Prince George Wharf brought some businesses in the downtown area to a halt yesterday, according to Chief Superintendent of Police Craig Stubbs.

Not suspecting foul play, Chief Superintendent Stubbs told reporters on the scene what police believed to have occurred, as it was an unusual incident in waters behind the Straw Market.

“It was shortly after eight this morning, an operator from the ferries boat service reported to police that there was a body of a male submerged under waters here at the Prince George Wharf area,” Stubbs said.

In order to retrieve the body from the waters, Chief Superintendent Stubbs said police and Defence Force personnel were called in.

“The members from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) Marine Patrol Units responded.

“They retrieved from the waters a male that had expired and from all indications it appears as though the male was submerged in the waters for quite some time,” Chief Superintendent Stubbs said.

While reporters were on the scene, police were seen canvassing the area for details.

“The supportive units from the Royal Bahamas Police Force came to assess [process] the scene.

“The body is now being transported to the morgue where an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death,” Chief Superintendent Stubbs said.

When prompted that the incident was an unusual occurrence for the area so early in the morning, Chief Superintendent Stubbs said there was no concern that it had affected tourists in who were shopping or touring the area.

“For the area, for a Tuesday morning, where we have tourists passing by, but it did not cause any concern from the tourists,” Chief Superintendent Stubbs said.

He also squashed speculations that the male was a tourist or a white Caucasian.

“The response is that it appears to be an individual that apparently drowned, from all indications it appears that he was sitting on the dock and for reason unknown to us may have fell in the waters.

“From what we gathered it is a fair skin adult male. It appears to be a local individual,” Chief Superintendent Stubbs said.

Police have not yet released the identity of the victim as no one at the scene at the time could give any indication of who he was. Police also said foul play was not suspected.