A shipwrecked Mexican sailor who washed up on a remote Pacific island miraculously survived 16 months at sea — by eating birds and drinking turtle blood.
José Ivan was discovered by islanders dressed only in a ratty pair of underwear aboard his small beat-up boat, which landed on a reef near Ebon Atoll in the Marshall Islands on Thursday, according to the AFP news service.
The bearded and badly emaciated sailor, whose jaw-dropping adventure resembles in some ways the movie “Cast Away” with Tom Hanks, left Mexico on a journey to El Salvador with a friend in September 2012.
But the engine on the 24-foot-boat soon died, causing it to drift roughly 8,000 miles off course, according to the paper.
His companion died several months ago, but Ivan managed to stay alive by drinking rainwater and turtle blood in an attempt to stay hydrated.
He also caught fish and birds with his bare hands, sources cited by AFP said.
“His condition isn’t good, but he’s getting better. We’ve given him a lot of water and he’s gaining
strength,” said Ola Fjeldstad, an anthropologist on the island with knowledge of his condition.
She added, “The boat is really scratched up and looks like it has been in the water for a long time.”
Ivan is dehydrated and suffers from low blood pressure, locals said., but is expected to survive, locals said. Three Mexicans were also discovered drifting in a small fiberglass boat near the Marshall Islands nine months after setting sail in 2006.
The islanders who found the curious castaway transported him to Ebon — population 1,000 — an island so remote there is only one phone line and no Internet, to meet its mayor, Ione de Brum.
De Brum then called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Majuro to report the incident. Rescuers also found a turtle aboard his 24-foot Fiberglass boat. No fishing gear was found.
Ivan speaks only Spanish and could not communicate the details of his story immediately after his boat washed up, possibly due to exhaustion.
On Friday, Ivan was taken in by a local family that is helping him recover, until he can be moved to Majuro, a larger nearby island, sources said.