Fishermen rescued a Royal Caribbean cruise ship pianist from the Pacific Ocean off Southern California on November 6 after local lifeguard officials estimated he may have spent about nine hours in the water.
Sean Norton and Grant Garrett helped pull the man aboard their boat after their captain spotted him offshore near Newport Beach. The crew had been returning from a morning fishing trip when they encountered him, WTAP reported on November 9.
Garrett said the 37-year-old man identified himself as a pianist aboard the 14-deck Ovation of the Seas. The ship, which had departed from Long Beach, was on its way to Ensenada, Mexico. Royal Caribbean separately confirmed to ABC News that the rescued man worked as a crew member.
“We are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time,” the company said in a statement to ABC News.
The Coast Guard told ABC7 that a Good Samaritan notified the agency on November 6 after recovering a conscious person about nine nautical miles northeast of Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island. That location describes the distance from the harbor; rescuers also placed the incident roughly 15 to 20 miles offshore.
Newport Beach lifeguards met the fishing boat and took the man back to shore, according to the city account ABC7 cited. He was then taken to a local hospital.
Lifeguard officials estimated the man may have gone overboard around 2:30 a.m., roughly nine hours before the fishermen found him.
The precise time he entered the water remains uncertain. ABC7 said the circumstances that led to the man going overboard and his time in the ocean remained unclear.
Norton speculated that warmer water temperatures from the El Niño weather phenomenon may have contributed to the man’s survival.
“You have this crazy super El Niño year. This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water’s 76 degrees. A different year, no way he makes it,” Norton said, WTAP reported.
The Coast Guard said the man is expected to survive and that the agency is investigating how he went overboard. Authorities have not publicly identified the rescued man.
