Cruise ship pianist rescued from Pacific Ocean after nine hours in water
Two fishermen found a pianist from the cruise ship Ovation of the Seas treading water off the Californian coast; he is believed to have spent about nine hours in the ocean after falling overboard. He was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
A cruise ship pianist who fell overboard has been found alive in the Pacific Ocean, roughly 20 miles (32km) off the Californian coast near Catalina Island, US media report. Two fishermen spotted him treading water on Friday, and officials believe he may have been in the sea for around nine hours.
The man is an employee of the cruise company Royal Caribbean and has not yet been named. The US Coast Guard, which is investigating the incident, told the BBC he was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
How the rescue unfolded
Fishermen Grant Garrett and Sean Norton recalled realising that the figure in the water was a person, stopping their boat and pulling in their lines. According to Norton, the man said he was a pianist on the 14-deck cruise ship Ovation of the Seas, and told him: "Thank you. I thought I was gonna die."
The Coast Guard said it had received a report from a "Good Samaritan" who recovered a conscious person from the water. He was handed to Newport Beach Lifeguards, who confirmed he worked on the ship. Lifeguard officials believe he fell overboard at around 02:30, about nine hours before he was found. Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda told CBS, the BBC's US news partner, that the spot was 15 to 20 miles offshore, pretty much in the middle of the ocean.
Warm water
Norton credited the man's survival to unusually warm sea temperatures of 76F (about 24C), saying that in a different year he would not have made it. Scientists monitoring the Pacific say the developing El Niño climate phenomenon is now the strongest on record, with ocean temperatures about 3.05C above average.
A Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson told the BBC the company is supporting its crew member, but, to respect his privacy, has no further details to share.
