After months at sea, a lost sailor and his dog have been rescued in the South Pacific Ocean, rescuers announced.
Tim Shaddock, a 51-year-old seaman, and Bella, a puppy, sailed away from La Paz, Mexico, three months ago. A storm battered his white catamaran a month into his voyage, destroying all of his equipment.
He and Bella survived on just raw fish and rainwater, he said.
Over the weekend, a Mexican tuna boat came to their aid.
“I have been through a very difficult ordeal at sea,” Shaddock said.
Although he had fishing and other survival gear with him, it was not enough to keep them well-fed.
“I’m just needing rest and good food because I’ve been alone at sea a long time,” said Shaddock, adding, “I have not had food, enough food, for a long time.”
A helicopter following a tuna trawler on its way back to Mexico spotted Shaddock and Bella. It is not yet clear when Shaddock first left Mexico, or where he was rescued.
Shaddock had “normal vital signs,” a doctor who treated him on the trawler said
According to reports, the trawler was returning to Mexico’s west coast so Shaddock could receive additional medical attention.
Shaddock claimed that he prevented sunburn by consuming raw fish, drinking rainwater, and staying beneath the cover of his boat.
“If you get sunburn, that affects your ability to regulate your body temperature,” Mike Tipton, a physiology professor at the extreme environment laboratory at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, said. Shaddock would sweat up to 1 or 2 liters an hour otherwise.
“If you do absolutely nothing and you rest and you stay cool, you can get away with as less as 110 to 220 milliliters of water a day,” Tipton explained.
Shaddock had to take care of not only himself but also his dog, who, according to Tipton, was essential to the pair’s existence.
“He had companionship. Once you’ve got enough food and water, then I think the dog has an advantage,” said Tipton, adding, “Your survival time is as long as you can keep collecting water, getting occasional food, and doing things that help you stay positive.”
Tipton said that finding Shaddock in the vast Pacific Ocean was like finding a “needle in a haystack,” especially considering the fact that the helicopter was not searching for him.
“It was a combination of luck and the right behavior,” he said.
