Australia's maritime safety watchdog is investigating how an elderly passenger died on a Great Barrier Reef island after being left behind by a cruise ship.

The woman, who was aged in her 80s and hasn't been identified, was reported missing to authorities last Saturday night, when a check of the cruise ship the Coral Adventurer revealed she was missing.

She had been part of Coral Expedition's cruise to the exclusive resort destination Lizard Island, off the coast of Cooktown in Far North Queensland, earlier that day.

Search and rescue crews, who had been scouring the land and sea for her, found her dead on the island the following day. 

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement it was investigating and would question the ship's crew when the ship docks in Da

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