Brave members of the public have described how they desperately tried to rescue a man and woman who were swept up by rough seas.
Passers-by rushed to help them after first the man and then the woman entered the waters in New Brighton in an apparent bid to help a dog in "huge waves" just after midday on Monday.
Witnesses have detailed how a life ring was successfully thrown to the man, but it proved much more difficult to get one to the woman.
A man kept near to a sea wall to be close to the woman, just off Kings Parade in New Brighton.
A group of young boys first saw the danger and raced on their bikes to fetch emergency equipment.
One of the members of the public who tried to help said: "I threw a lifebuoy to the man which he thankfully caught.
"They [the man and woman] were fairly close together when I got up on the wall, but they drifted apart.
"I got a ring to him, and a couple helped tied the other end to one of the benches.
"Another guy stayed along the wall with the woman until he could get hold of a ring.
"Three young lads saw them first and alerted us, and used their bikes to grab lifebuoys."
The woman went into the water along the stretch of walkway between the Marine Lake and the sea, which is lined by a bank of rocks on the sea wall side.
A spokesperson for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution said: "Two walkers were on the promenade by Portland slipway when their dog entered the water and got into difficulty.
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"One of the walkers, a man, entered the water to help the dog but also got into difficulty.
"The second walker, a female, then entered the water to help the man but also got into difficulty."
Flowers have been left at the scene.
The woman, in her 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene, but the man, in his 20s, and the dog were rescued from the water during a major operation involving the RNLI, Coastguard, Merseyside Police and North West Ambulance Service.
Police have appealed for information on what they say was a "tragic incident."
Anyone with information is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’. You can also call 101 quoting incident reference 341 of 6 July.
