Man survives ’18 months adrift’ on Pacific by catching sea turtles barehanded

Lucked out on shallow atoll

Easier to see whats in the water, and grab it.

Even get in the water and graze around the reef for edible stuff. Deep water, he'd be blind to sharks

I would not be getting on another boat. Wait for the plane or just stay put for a year to recuperate. That's what I would do. I can't even imagine laying in a bed after all of that - your body would still be rocking and I'm sure he had sea legs.

I wonder what a full physical will show - muscle mass loss, damage from dehydration (its unlikely he drank adequate amounts over time), permanent equilibrium problems or skin sores from exposure....

It seems clear no one patrols this vast expanse of sea with so many stories like this (although shorter periods of time). Maybe they should place warnings about the jet stream, current anomalies, and advise people to not go more than a 1/4 mile out in small vessels? I wouldn't want to see the ocean become regulated - just educate them on it. I wonder how many others are still adrift we don't know about - or who never made it, and therefore will never know about. Terrifying thought.

..wilson........Wilson......WILSON.....!

Isn't there already sort of a film..?

PDUK

The health benefits of drinking raw turtle blood were put to the test recently by a group of fishermen adrift in the Pacific for a month. The seven Nicaraguans lost power on their 33-foot boat and drifted nearly 600 miles out to sea before being picked up by a merchant ship Jan. 5. Despite running out of water early in their voyage, the men stayed completely healthy because of their ability to capture turtles and drink their blood

www.thewire.com...

Watch - all those who have had these ordeals will live to be 140 years old and they will discover turtle blood is the reason. Very smart idea for survival.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I just watched Life of Pi for the first time not too long ago, that was the first thing that came to mind when I read this. Except in the movie, the castaway washes up in Mexico, not the Mexican washing up on the other side of the Pacific.

Fascinating nonetheless!

Dianec

The health benefits of drinking raw turtle blood were put to the test recently by a group of fishermen adrift in the Pacific for a month. The seven Nicaraguans lost power on their 33-foot boat and drifted nearly 600 miles out to sea before being picked up by a merchant ship Jan. 5. Despite running out of water early in their voyage, the men stayed completely healthy because of their ability to capture turtles and drink their blood

www.thewire.com...

Watch - all those who have had these ordeals will live to be 140 years old and they will discover turtle blood is the reason. Very smart idea for survival.

The whole idea of drinking blood seems a bit vampiric for my liking...sure you're out there and hungry and thirsty. but blood??

Meh I would try and rig up some sort of desalination unit with whatever I could find. I would eat the raw meat but raw blood?? No thanks.

OccamsRazor04

tothetenthpower
reply to post by ieatbrains

 

I bet you he makes it rich with his book and made for TV movie lol

~Tenth

I don't know ... how can they make that into a 90 minute film? Maybe 15 minutes ...

Have you ever heard of the movie Castaway staring Tom Hanks???

AccessDenied
Truly amazing . How in the world could one survive not just physically ,but mentally adrift at sea for a year and a half?

you couldn't. it's baloney.

Sadly he is not being beleived by some because he isnt as skinny as he should be. The one who died was just 15 years old.

www.theguardian.com...

I believe that this story is a hoax. There is no way he could have stayed hydrated enough with rain water, or Turtle blood for that matter, in such extreme heat. ~$heopleNation

a more up-to-date article is here:
EXCLUSIVE: Recognise me now? Pacific castaway who claimed to have spent 14 months adrift at sea finally gets a haircut as his stunned mother says: 'I kept dreaming about seeing him again'

Seems like his incredible story is real. His parents recognize him, and how else would he arrive at Ebon Atoll, which is a small island with just less than 1000 people, very far way from mainland? Why he doesn't look more skinny can be explained by doctors.

A miracle for him to have reached this island. Hopefully his health isn't damaged too much.

Fenrin
Seems like his incredible story is real. His parents recognize him, and how else would he arrive at Ebon Atoll, which is a small island with just less than 1000 people, very far way from mainland?

Because he obviously floated there. The question is, was he truly adrift, or did he control the boat? He could have used GPS. He could have brought water, food and a fishing pole with him. Others could have dropped off supplies.

Catching a Turtle with his bare hands? Please........maybe once if he was lucky. That in itself would be like a lottery win unless he was stuck on a reef the entire 14 months, which he was not.

Why he doesn't look more skinny can be explained by doctors.

It can also be explained by someone who is not a doctor. Fact is, a human being would have experienced severe diarrhea from eating raw fish for even just a few months, let alone 14.

The result would have been mass dehydration, and significant weight loss. When you add in the extreme heat in that region of the pacific, logic and common sense points to his story being nonsense.

A miracle for him to have reached this island. Hopefully his health isn't damaged too much.

Well again, not if he used GPS. Course, I am sure the money that he makes off of writing a book will cure any of his ailments. ~$heopleNation

reply to post by SheopleNation


He could keep the Turtles alive and "harvesting" them!

Turtles are well known as a Source of Food
on the old Boats.

They stay fresh as long as you don't kill them!

I saw a short Report today, first i thought also "a Hoax"
but they interview his Family and People in his Home-town!

"What a Experience, what a Nightmare"!

reply to post by Human0815


If he was truly adrift, then yes, that is the stuff of nightmares. I have often contemplated what mental and physical hell such an experience would be like.

There have been many people throughout history, some known, and others unknown, who have survived almost impossible odds while adrift, and I understand that.

My problem with his story is the amount of time that he is claiming that he spent in such harsh conditions. 14 months just seems a bit of a stretch to me. Who knows. ~$heopleNation

SheopleNation
[...] 14 months just seems a bit of a stretch to me. Who knows. ~$heopleNation

in the article I linked above is a Q&A section, about the distance. According to a Oceanographer the distance Mexico to the Marhall Islands should take 18 months to two years usually, but 13 month is possible depending on winds and currents. The condition of his boat was very bad "bore all the scuffed signs of a vessel that had been at sea for a long time" according to villagers on Ebon atoll.

There are no reasons for me, not to believe his tale. Would he really risk his live just to write a book? Even with a shorter distance like from Malaysia or the Philippines such a journey on boat to the Marshall Islands would be risky.

Fenrin
There are no reasons for me, not to believe his tale. Would he really risk his live just to write a book? Even with a shorter distance like from Malaysia or the Philippines such a journey on boat to the Marshall Islands would be risky.

edit on 5-2-2014 by Fenrin because: clarified a quote

People do crazy things for money. If they are poor, they are even more desperate. Is it 16 or 18 months, It's says both in the article?

I just can't understand how he survived in the extreme heat off of rain water and turtle blood. It doesn't rain every day out there, and you need a lot of liquids in the weather when you're just sitting on the beach, let alone floating out there all day and every day.

And how did he catch Turtles with his bare hands out on the open sea? Who was his companion, has his family made any statements? I don't know anything for sure, I just have my suspicions that it COULD BE a hoax. ~$heopleNation