ROCKPORT (AP)- A prominent Boston surgeon has drowned in Maine after the dinghy he was in capsized in 48-degree waters.

The Coast Guard said Dr. Erwin Hirsch of Marblehead, Mass., was unconscious when he was pulled from the water Friday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for Boston Medical Center said Friday night that Hirsch was the hospital’s chief of trauma surgery.

Maria Pantages said “the staff is very shocked and very saddened by this news.”

The Coast Guard said it got a call about 3 p.m. that two people were in the water after capsizing while rowing to a moored boat in Rockport harbor. Another boater rescued the other person.

According to the Coast Guard, Hirsch was later pronounced dead at Penobscot Bay Medical Center.

AP-ES-05-23-08 2312EDT