A New Zealand man who survived more than 23 hours in cold waters and an encounter with a shark has been rescued after fishers spotted the reflection from his watch.
Will Fransen, 61, had set off on a solo fishing trip from Whangamatā on the Coromandel Peninsula, south of Auckland, on 2 January, but was yanked overboard after hooking what he suspected was a marlin.
He was unable to catch his idling 12-metre boat as it floated away, and was dragged by currents as he tried to swim to the Alderman Islands.
Whangamatā police sergeant Will Hamilton said it was an “absolute miracle” the man was still alive after the ordeal.
Fransen told the New Zealand Herald he was “pessimistic” of his chances of survival.
“I grabbed the line with the marlin attached and started pulling the line out. I tried pulling my way towards the boat only to have the line slip out of my hand, which is pretty gutting, because next thing my boat’s idling over the horizon and I’m treading water.
“When I went in the water I knew the chances of somebody even knowing I was in the water were pretty slim. I was pretty pessimistic from the outset,” he said. “I just kept staying alive.”
Fransen was too exhausted to keep swimming, so endured a cold and difficult night in the water, at one point seeing a shark coming close and having “a sniff” before swimming off.
“I gave up and just treaded water and watched the beautiful sunset overhead,” he said.
The angler was saved the next day when the three fishers noticed a reflection in the water and went over in their boat to investigate.
They found the exhausted and desperate man in the waters off Mayor Island, after he attemped to catch their attention by using the reflection of the sun from his watch.
Hamilton said he was taken back to Whangamatā and treated for hypothermia and exhaustion.
“It is an absolute miracle the fisherman is still alive after the ordeal. Without the quick actions of the three gentlemen that retrieved him, this certainly would have had a tragic outcome,” Hamilton said.
He thanked the fishers for saving the man’s life, and added that authorities were still looking for his boat.
“The boaties did an absolute stellar job and without a doubt saved this man’s life.
“Few stories end the way this one did, and police cannot thank the eagle-eyed trio enough for making the call to investigate something that looked out of the ordinary.
“The boat may be missing, but the fisherman still has his watch,” Hamilton added.
Rescuer James Mcdonnell told Newshub a “series of fortunate events” led them to see the watch “glistening, probably 600 metres away”.
“I mean, we were 10 miles [16km] off the back of Mayor Island and not a boat in sight, but sure enough, as we got closer, it was quite obvious that someone was waving their arms,” he said.
Rescue boat skipper Max White said their priority was to get the man aboard and to keep him awake.
“We had a big cooler bag and just wrapped him up in as many layers as possible,” he said. “He’s desperate for water … so I had a bit of warm water on the boat and some cranberry juice … Give him what we can and try and get him talking and just make sure that he stayed awake as best possible.”
