(ORDO NEWS) — On the northern coast of Australia, there was a lucky man who was able to save his life after almost 24 hours in water with predators.
A man whose boat capsized in rough seas off Australia’s northern coast has been rescued after living nearly 24 hours in shark- and crocodile-infested waters. He literally clung to a piece of wood.
A Queenslander was found floating in the Torres Strait, 2 kilometers from his capsized boat. According to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, he “clung to some debris” and pulled him out with a winch.
The man, who has not been named, is “very lucky” to have survived, authorities said in a statement. He is reported to have “left the island of Getullai and was unable to arrive at his destination by the expected time”.
A search by rescue aircraft late in the evening of the same day the man went missing was unsuccessful. Everything resumed in the morning with the participation of an airplane, a helicopter and a police ship.
Toward noon, “the capsized lifeboat was found in the water, and after a short aerial search, the missing person was found about two kilometers from the lifeboat,” the Australian agency said.
At the northern tip of Australia there are about 300 islands: most of the locals are the indigenous inhabitants of the Torres Strait Islanders, who have close ties with territories both in Australia and in Papua New Guinea.
According to the government, the Torres Strait is made up of 18 islands that are spread over a geographic area of 48,000 square kilometers.
The government notes that sharks are an important factor in the region as they are “known as protectors of the reef.”
The incident involving the man in December 2022 comes about two months after three men whose fishing boat sank in the Gulf of Mexico also escaped after spending 24 hours in dangerous terrain.
However, then the sharks still got to the people and inflicted deep cuts on their hands, tearing one of the life jackets.
Sharks are truly the masters of the World Ocean: they live in almost all water zones, depths and bottom landscapes.
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