A fishing boat captain who became separated from his vessel during Hurricane Milton survived by clinging to a floating cooler in the Gulf of Mexico before his eventual rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The unidentified man was found approximately 30 miles off the coast of Longboat Key, southwest of Tampa, on Thursday afternoon and pulled to safety by a Coast Guard helicopter, authorities said while releasing video of his rescue.
“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, Sector St. Petersburg’s command center chief, said in a statement .
“To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight,” Grady said.
A boat captain was found floating approximately 30 miles off Florida’s Longboat Key following Hurricane Milton.
The man was taken to Tampa General Hospital for treatment, authorities said. Additional details on his condition as of Friday were not immediately available.