(gentle music)
(water sloshes) - Jose Alverenga was lost at sea for 438 days and survived. In 2012, Jose and his new
first mate, Ezequiel Cordoba, set out on a 30 hour deep
sea fishing expedition off the coast of Mexico. Two days after leaving
shore, the men were caught in a powerful storm that blew
them 50 miles out to sea. Fortunately, Jose had a two-way
radio with a weak signal. He called his boss back
on shore begging for help. He was assured a rescue
party was on its way. Then the storm suddenly picked up and violently pounded their boat for five more days and nights, shaking the 25 foot vessel as they drifted further and further from shore. The rescue, called off after just two days because of the ferocious wind and rain. Once the storm let up, Jose and Ezequiel realized
they not only didn't know where they were, but
nearly all their electrical and motor equipment was destroyed. Nobody was coming to save them. Jose and Ezequiel were left
floating in the Pacific Ocean all alone. Days turned to weeks and
weeks turned to months. Food was not plentiful,
but did come their way with the men regularly
grabbing raw turtles, birds, jellyfish and other
creatures from the sea. Remember consuming raw
animals while lost at sea is especially dangerous, not just for the bacteria and parasites, but also from potential toxins created by rapidly
proliferating blue-green algae that can build up in
tissues of those animals. When it came to drinking water,
they captured as much rain as they could, but when that ran out, they resorted to drinking
turtle blood or their own urine. This is important
medical information here. Despite Bear Grylls doing this on TV, it is not advised to drink your own urine, as it's rich in minerals
that will only speed up the dehydration process. In fact, the Army survival manual states to never use alcoholic
beverages, urine, blood, or seawater as water substitutes. Four months into their
seemingly endless drift, Ezequiel lost all hope. He gave up eating and
succumbed to starvation. Experts really can't say how long humans can live without food, as it's
not an ethical area to study. But some research on individuals participating in hunger strikes and those trapped or buried, gives us a rough estimate
of 8 to 12 weeks. Six days later, Jose
released Ezequiel overboard, weeping over the loss of his friend, but he never gave up hope. Finally, 438 days into
this horrific ordeal, Jose spotted a small patch
of land on the horizon. He decided now was his chance. He dove overboard and swam to shore to a tiny tropical island
known as Tile islet in the Marshall Islands, where
he was spotted by two locals. This was his first human
contact in nearly a year. He was rushed to a hospital
where doctors diagnosed him with anemia, suspected to have been caused by the frequent consumption
of raw marine animals, leading to parasitic
infection of his liver. Jose recovered, boarded a plane,
and flew 6,000 miles home. (water sloshes) (water gurgles) Harrison Okene spent 60 hours
trapped in an air pocket on the ocean floor and survived. In the middle of the night in 2013, a tugboat off the coast of Nigeria was on the way to an oil
tanker when it capsized in surprisingly rough seas. Incredibly, Harrison, the boat's cook, happened to be awake using the restroom. Because of advanced
locks on the ship doors, meant to deter pirates, Harrison was unable to
escape the capsized vessel. He was trapped in a small bathroom as the ship took on
water and began to sink. Fortunately for Harrison the door locks wound up saving his life. As the ship sank deeper into the grim depths of the
ocean, Harrison remained safe inside an air bubble that had
been trapped inside with him. Eventually, the sinking stopped and Harrison realized he was now submerged in the pitch black on the ocean floor. Any attempt to escape
the ship at this point would result in Harrison
drowning or suffering the consequences of water
pressure at 100 feet. Quick ascension from 100 feet depth would put him at incredibly high risk of pulmonary barotrauma,
bursting his lungs, or decompression sickness, where dissolved nitrogen
air can bubble out leading to joint pain,
neurologic injury, or even death. All Harrison could do was
sit in a darkness and pray. (siren blares)
Above the surface, a team had been assembled
to find the wreck and retrieved the
believed to be dead crew. This unfortunately didn't happen quickly, as Harrison sat at the bottom of the ocean for 60 hours before miraculously the hand of a rescue diver
emerged from the water. The diver quickly assessed
Harrison's condition and things were not looking good. After breathing the same
air for nearly three days Harrison was falling victim
to carbon dioxide poisoning. Every time he would breathe, he would take in some of
that precious trapped oxygen but then he would expel
more carbon dioxide. In fact, experts believe
that if he was trapped for longer than 60 hours, it would've been the
carbon dioxide buildup and toxicity that would've
been the cause of his death, rather than running out of oxygen. Harrison eventually surfaced
with the help of a diving bell, or a mobile pocket of air,
allowing for a gradual return to the surface at a consistent pressure. He was then placed in
a decompression chamber for three days, which allowed
his body to gradually adjust to the surface level pressures. Harrison went on to receive
his official license and now works as a deep sea diver himself. (water sloshes) (upbeat music) Fang Lang witnessed the Titanic sink into the frigid dark depths of the Atlantic Ocean and survived. In April, 1912, Fang Lang
boarded the RMS Titanic headed for New York City,
where he was contracted to work as a fireman on another
ship headed towards Cuba. As the infamous story goes
on April 14th at 11:40 PM the Titanic struck an iceberg. Over the course of just a few hours the largest ship in history
sank bringing 1500 passengers and crew along with it, but not Fang Lang. Fang was not lucky enough
to leave the Titanic aboard a dry lifeboat. Instead, Fang found
himself diving off the ship and floating for his life
within the bitterly cold ocean. It's estimated the water
temperature that night was around 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and look, despite the
popularity of ice baths, floating in freezing water post shipwreck is incredibly deadly with
immersion hypothermia setting in after just minutes. And 15 to 45 minutes
before the brain and heart ultimately can stop. It's unknown exactly how long Fang was floating in the ocean, but he held on while passengers were lost
to the cold water around him. Eventually, a lifeboat
came back and rescued Fang, as he was on the brink of death. Fang then sat shivering in the lifeboat for several hours until the
Carpathia rescued 700 survivors early the next morning. (water sloshes) (water gurgles) Edgar Harrell experienced one
of the worst shark attacks in recorded history and survived. In July of 1945, 1200 men were
aboard the USS Indianapolis, sailing through the South Pacific days before nuclear bombs
would be dropped on Japan to end World War II. The seas were calm and the air was warm, with Edgar lounging on
the ship playing cards with his fellow soldiers. But beneath the surface,
horror was coming. Shortly after midnight,
a Japanese submarine fired two torpedoes at the Indianapolis, piercing the hull and
igniting stores of fuel. A massive explosion
ripped the vessel apart, sending Edgar and 900
survivors into the ocean. Edgar bobbed up and down in the water as he and his fellow survivors watched the USS Indianapolis
sink in just 12 minutes. It was not long until the men
were floating in life jackets in the pitch dark of the night
with the worst yet to come. It didn't take long for the
attack to alert hundreds if not thousands of hungry
sharks to Edgar's location. Edgar and his fellow men
had nowhere to escape and no way to defend themselves. He watched in horror as one
man after the other was pulled under the water and eaten by the sharks. And look, while shark attacks on humans is a rather rare phenomenon, they're usually lethal when medical help cannot be immediately accessed, as blood loss can be profuse and rapid. And for those who avoided the sharks, dehydration got the best of them, with many men succumbing
to drinking seawater. Seawater is extremely salty, containing nearly nine
grams of salt per cup, when the average person is
ideally supposed to take in two grams of salt per day. So not only does the excess
salt in the intestines pull in water dehydrating the body cells, but the kidneys have to
make use of even more water to rid the huge amount of salt taken in, double the damage, no benefit. Finally, after four and
a half days of terror an American plane spotted the floating men and alerted the navy to their location. Edgar and 316 men were
pulled from the water, with the total loss of
life reaching nearly 900. (water sloshes) (water gurgles) Scott Cassell was attacked
by a swarm of Humboldt squid and survived. During a video shoot,
expert nature documentarian, Scott Cassell, was swimming
in the Pacific Ocean holding a large camera
hoping to capture footage of Humboldt squid,
otherwise known in Mexico as diablo rojo, the red devil. Along with being beautiful,
elegant swimmers, the Humboldt squid are also
known to be quite aggressive, or at least have been in the past, in the presence of shiny cameras
invading their territory. Not to mention, new research
has confirmed they engaged in coordinated hunting,
or hunting in packs. Shortly after hitting the
water, Scott was attacked by a violent Humboldt squid,
who wrapped its tentacles around his arms and began to pull. Another squid launched at Scott's camera and pulled it as hard as it could, dislocating Scott's shoulder. A shoulder dislocation
in a situation like this is incredibly dangerous, given the fact the arm becomes difficult, if not impossible to move,
limiting mobility in the water. Remember, while dislocation
is a joint issue, it can also come with torn
ligaments and or tendons. These squids also have sharp
beaks, which they use to eat, and Scott could feel them
ripping through his wetsuit and breaking his skin. Two more squids grabbed Scott by the legs and began pulling him deeper underwater, causing his eardrum to explode. Middle ear barotrauma, also
known as middle ear squeeze, is when there's an
uncontrolled or rapid descent that increases pressure in the middle ear, pushing the tympanic membrane so much so that it can lead to
rupture or even hemorrhage. This can be prevented by
equalizing the pressure using a Valsalva maneuver
to open the eustachian tube, but only when going slowly. Scott fought for his life,
thrashing at the squid, and tearing them off his body one by one. Finally free, Scott began
to swim to the surface, but not before a final
squid torpedoed his wrist, breaking it in five places. Scott emerged from the
water and screamed for help as a squid chased him from below. He raced onto the boat
seconds before the squid could make a second
attack to pull him under. Scott survived and continues to work as one of the world's
leading marine videographers. (water sloshes)
(gentle music) Michael Packard was eaten by
a humpback whale and survived. Just a few years ago, Michael Packard, a lifelong lobster fisherman, was sailing off the
coast of Massachusetts. When you think of lobster
fishing, you might be thinking of those hardcore ships in Alaska that throw giant cages into
the ocean, but not Michael. Michael does it the old fashioned way. He geared up, dropped his
own body into the ocean, sinking to the ocean floor
to scoop up lobsters by hand. While slowly walking up
the sandy ocean floor looking for his catch of the day, Michael became the catch himself. Out of nowhere, Michael felt
like he was hit by a truck and suddenly his whole world went black. Michael was completely disoriented. He was upside down in the dark and somehow traveling
quickly through the water. After a few moments, Michael realized that he'd been swallowed by something far bigger than himself. He became filled with
terror upon realizing he could be in the mouth of a shark, but he didn't feel any sharp teeth. Instead, Michael was inside
the mouth of a humpback whale, which on average can be 50 feet
long and weigh over 35 tons. Fortunately for Michael, while a humpback is large
enough to put you in its mouth, a humpback's throat is
much smaller than a person. The humpback knew this too, and after feeling
Michael's scratch and claw inside its mouth, decided
it didn't like the taste of New England lobster fishermen. The whale surfaced and spat
Michael out into the sunlight. Michael was taken to the hospital and treated for soft tissue injuries. I'm not gonna lie, while
we do have ICD-10 codes for many illnesses, I'm not sure if swallowed by
humpback whale is one of them. Although struck by orca is. Michael has been very open
about this unusual experience and has said he apologizes to the whale for getting in its way. - I'm sorry that I got in his way. He was probably more
freaked out than I was. (logo beeps) - I actually pulled a medical
prank on other doctors, I couldn't stop laughing. Click here to check that out. Enjoy that story, and as
always, stay happy and healthy. (bright upbeat music)
