Amazing 13-Month Expedition of Mexican Castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga

Amazing Info's | Fisherman Jose Salvador Alvarenga, 37, a castaway who spent more than a year at sea by landing on a far-off Pacific Island has described his amazing expedition as he drifted for thousands of miles surviving on birds, turtles, and hand-caught small sharks.

Alvarenga was bewildered after being told that he was in the Marshall Islands, a country he had never heard of when he set off from Mexico in December 2012.

“I had just killed a bird to eat and saw some trees and I cried, “Oh God” I got to land and had a mountain of sleep. In the morning I woke up and heard a rooster and saw chickens and saw a small house. I saw two native women screaming and yelling. I didn’t have any clothes. I was only in my underwear and they were ripped and torn,” Alvarenga said.

In spite of his suffering, he appeared to be in a healthy form when he arrived in Majura from the isolated Ebon Island. He had a bushy orange beard, gaunt face and swollen ankles but was able to walk alone and was badly hungry for bread.

Alvarenga said he has been working for 15 years as a shark and shrimp fisherman in Mexico and has a 10-year-old daughter in El Salvador. He appeared well-fed and in good spirits, apart from his attempt to tell the loss of his fellow 15-year-old fisherman, named Ezekiel.

According to him, he set off for just a one-day trip to catch sharks with Ezekiel on December 21, 2012. The motor on their 24-foot boat stopped working on their first day and they spent some days drifting near land. However, they soon drifted into the Pacific Ocean and realised they needed to fend for themselves.

Alvarenga still gathered the bravery to survive, armed only with a knife and a covering to protect himself from the sun.

“I didn’t know the hour, or the day, or the date. I only knew the sun and the night. I never saw land. Pure ocean, pure ocean. It was very placid, only two days with big waves,” he said.

He explained that he lived off turtles, birds, fish and small sharks, which he would catch by putting one arm into the water as bait before grabbing the tail of the shark and would often drink his own urine, particularly in periods without rain. He also considered taking his own life after the loss of Ezekiel.

“For four days I wanted to end myself. But I couldn’t feel the desire. I didn’t want to feel the pain. I couldn’t do it,” he said.

Alvarenga survived because he was never bored and rarely scared as well as constantly praying to God.

“I had my mind on God. If I was going to die, I would be with God. So I wasn’t scared. I imagine this is an amazing story for people,” he added.

Chief Damien Jacklick of Marshall Islands Immigration stated that authorities were still gathering information along with the foreign affairs department are now planning to contact overseas officials for his repatriation.

“With the help of the US ambassador, we were able to obtain information on his family members in El Salvador and the United States. We hope this information will help us track down his family,” Jacklick said.