Man Survives 24 Hours on Driftwood in Shark-Infested Waters: 'Very Lucky'

A man whose boat capsized survived for nearly 24 hours in shark- and crocodile-infested waters while clinging only to a piece of driftwood. He was found Wednesday morning by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in the Torres Strait, which is between Queensland's Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea, and brought to safety.

The search for the missing man began on Tuesday evening after the Queensland Water Police alerted the AMSA about a lost dinghy with a passenger on board. "The dinghy departed Getullai Island yesterday and failed to arrive at their destination by the expected time," the AMSA said in a statement.

After an unsuccessful search by rescue aircraft overnight, the hunt was resumed in the morning with the help of a helicopter and police vessels. At 11:30 a.m. local time, the upturned dinghy was located. "Following a short aerial search the missing person was found about 2km from the dinghy clinging to some flotsam," the AMSA said.

The Torres Strait region consists of 18 major islands and two communities in Queensland's Northern Peninsula Area. The islands are spread over an area of 18,500 square miles off the north coast of Queensland, from the tip of Cape York toward the borders of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

The strait's waters are notorious for their large populations of sharks and crocodiles. In 2020, two fishermen were found clinging to a piece of plywood in the region 15 hours after their boat had capsized. The men said that while they were waiting to be rescued a shark had come within meters of them.

Shark expert Richard Pierce said that in such unusual circumstances it is important to avoid splashing around in the water. "You're just going to excite, incite and encourage the shark's interest," he told CNN. "If you go swimming and splashing away, you're almost inviting the shark to come give you an exploratory or an attack bite."

He also said that you should try to maintain eye contact with the shark and make yourself as big as possible. "The bigger you are in the water, the more respect you will get."

In the Australia incident, the man has so far not said that he had any close encounters with sharks. After being hoisted to safety, he was taken to Thursday Island to receive medical assistance.

"We wish the very lucky survivor a speedy recovery," the AMSA said.

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