Far From Land, They Investigated a Reflection and Saved a Life

New Zealand fisherman, who'd fallen overboard, rescued after 24 hours in ocean
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 4, 2024 11:25 AM CST
Far From Land, They Investigated a Reflection and Saved a Life
The unnamed man was in the ocean for 24 hours before his rescue Wednesday.   (Getty Images/IakovKalinin)

A man who fell off his boat during a solo fishing trip off the coast of New Zealand and spent the next 24 hours in the ocean, during which he was reportedly visited by a shark, was rescued Wednesday after a chance sighting of the sunlight's reflection on his watch. "It's an absolute miracle the fisherman is still alive after the ordeal," Whangamata Police said in a statement, per the BBC. "He endured a cold night in the ocean, too exhausted to keep swimming." The man, IDed by the New Zealand Herald as 61-year-old Will Fransen, had fallen off his 40-foot boat Tuesday while trying to reel in a suspected marlin some 30 nautical miles off North Island's east coast, Newshub reports. Unable to reach his idling boat, Fransen tried to swim to the nearby Aldermen Islands, but currents carried him away.

The fisherman later said a shark came to "have a sniff" at him as he floated helplessly but ultimately left him unscathed, according to police. His luck turned Wednesday afternoon when he spotted a fishing boat. The three men aboard—James McDonnell, Max White, and Tyler Taffs—had noticed "a glistening" roughly a third of a mile away and went to investigate, not expecting to find a person, McDonnell tells Newshub. After all, they were 10 miles from the nearest island. The "glistening" turned out to be the sun's reflection on Fransen's wristwatch, which he'd been desperately using to signal them. "As we got closer, it was quite obvious that someone was waving their arms," says McDonnell.

"Glad to see you" were the first words out of Fransen's mouth, White tells the Herald. He notes the man was "very cold to touch," so his rescuers gave him their clothes, per Newshub. They then whisked him to Whangamata, where he was treated for hypothermia and exhaustion. Fransen had been awake for nearly two days, per the Herald. "Without the quick actions of the three gentlemen that retrieved him, this certainly would have had a tragic outcome," police said. "The boaties did an absolute stellar job and without a doubt saved this man's life." McDonnell says "fate" played a role in the rescue, noting the three men could have easily ended up in a different location, per Newshub. Authorities are still looking for Fransen's lost boat. (More rescue stories.)

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