Fisherman saved by watch reflection after floating in the ocean for almost 24 hours
A fisherman’s survival was an “absolute miracle,” police said after the man was rescued almost 24 hours after falling into the sea off the New Zealand coast, having used the reflection from his watch to signal for help.
A fisherman’s survival was an “absolute miracle,” police said after the man was rescued almost 24 hours after falling into the sea off the New Zealand coast, having used the reflection from his watch to signal for help.
The man, who has not been named, told officers that a shark came to “have a sniff,” Whangamatā Police Sgt. Will Hamilton said in a statement. Ultimately the creature decided on something else for dinner.
The angler’s ordeal began after he fell into the water off of New Zealand’s North Island on Tuesday while trying to reel in a marlin, Hamilton said.
The fisherman was “unable to catch the idling boat as it meandered further out of reach,” Hamilton said, adding that the man decided to swim to the Aldermen Islands, which sit around 35 miles off the North Island’s east coast.
Strong currents thwarted his plan, however, and Hamilton said the man “endured a cold night in the ocean, too exhausted to keep swimming.”
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