Police say the drowning of a Halifax County toddler in a pond near his home appears to be an accident.

A 78-year-old Cumberland County man drowned yesterday morning while fishing in a private Goochland County farm pond. Goochland Sheriff James L. Agnew said Harold G. Sutton of Ampthill Road in Cartersville, was fishing with a friend when their canoe capsized about 25 yards from shore. Sutton attempted to swim to the shore. His companion, a 20-year-old Goochland man, tried to help him but was unable to prevent him from going under the water.

An 80-year-old Cumberland County man died early this morning in a private Goochland County farm pond after his canoe capsized, tossing him and another fisherman into the water, according to the Goochland County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff James L. Agnew said Harold G. Sutton, 78, of Ampthill Road in Cartersville, and his friend launched their 17-foot canoe around 7:30 this morning at the pond off Sandy Hook Road in central Goochland County.

The National Park Service says a Virginia man drowned off Ocracoke Island in North Carolina while he tried to save his grandchildren, who were caught in a rip current.

A second person in a month has drowned at a dangerous Franklin County low-head dam.

Colonial Heights and Chesterfield County authorities this afternoon recovered the body of a man who was believed to have drowned in the Appomattox River after he slipped while wading with his nephew.

A 33-year-old woman from Northern Virginia drowned Friday night in the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach. Officials said Sujana Umesh of Ashburn was swimming with her family near 36th Street when a rip current pulled them away from shore just after 8 p.m. Lifeguards and other beach-goers went into the water to help pull them out and began rescuing people, but they were unable to get to Umesh in time, said officer Adam Bernstein, a police spokesman.

A residential swimming pool where a 2-year-old Chesterfield County boy drowned this week did not have the required permits and was in violation of building codes designed to prevent such tragedies, Chesterfield’s chief building official says. “The code is very specific in trying to protect against children gaining access to pools, especially this age group,“ William D. “Bill” Dupler, Chesterfield’s director of building inspections, said yesterday.

Pools are a place for relaxation and fun during the warm summer months. But hidden dangers lurk beneath those refreshing waters. From 2002 to 2006, there were 430 unintentional drownings in Virginia. While the vast majority happened in a natural body of water, dozens occurred in swimming pools.

Police are calling yesterday’s drowning of a 2-year-old Chesterfield County boy a “very unfortunate accident” that did not involve any apparent negligence.

Virginia Beach police say they believe an 84-year-old woman was getting water for her garden when she fell into a private lake and drowned.

A Richmond man died Sunday after falling from a small boat while fishing in Hanover County. The Hanover County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Malcolm Cotman, 46, of the 100 block of Koch Avenue in Richmond. Cotman was fishing in a pond on the property of Aggregate Associates when he apparently fell from the boat. Cotman was the only person on the boat, and he was not wearing a life preserver, said Capt. Michael J. Trice of the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.

A North Carolina man on a kayaking trip with friends drowned after his kayak flipped in a turbulent Rockbridge County river.