Fishermen found alive in cooler in miracle rescue after five days lost
Two fisherman were miraculously found alive floating in a giant Esky 130 nautical miles from shore after being lost at sea for five days – how they were found?
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Two fishermen were found alive inside a large cooler after spending five days adrift at sea.
Daniel Guerrero Martínez and José Luis Portelas Villegas set sail from Paredón, in Mexico’s Chiapas state, on 13 August to fish in the Pacific Ocean.
They made their last radio contact a day later when they were around 120km from the coast.
After communication was lost and the fishermen failed to return, authorities deployed* an aircraft to search the Pacific Ocean.
Three boats also set sail from Paredón to retrace their last known route, but the searches yielded no results, Jam Press reported.
Five days later, on Wednesday, the fishermen, aged 53 and 32, were located alive by the navy.
They were found more than 130 nautical* miles off the coast of Chiapas, having spent the previous five days adrift at sea inside a cooler box.
Naval medical personnel reportedly found that both men were suffering from severe dehydration*.
They were taken by helicopter to port, where they received medical attention before being handed over to their families in Paredón.
Initial reports suggested that wind and bad weather were key factors in causing the vessel to drift so far out to sea.
The latest reports suggest that their fishing boat the Camaronera sank after being overturned by a powerful wave in rough weather.
“Two fishermen who spent five days adrift on a cool box were located and rescued by naval personnel more than 240km off the coast of Chiapas,” Mexico’s Secretariat* of the Navy said.
“The deployment of surface and air units under the trinomio* concept (ship – interceptor* – aircraft) made it possible to expand the search, locate the fishermen, bring them to safety and reunite them with their families.”
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GLOSSARY
- nautical: relating to ships, sailing, or sailors
- deployed: to use something or someone, especially in an effective way
- dehydration: a drop below normal levels of water in the body
- secretariat: the office or people responsible for managing an organisation, especially a political or international one
- trinomio: trinomial in English, relating to three terms or variables in a maths statement
- interceptor: person or thing that intercepts, stops, catches or blocks something or someone else
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QUICK QUIZ
- The men were found drifting of the coast of which country?
- Which popular nautical activity led them to be out on the water in the first place?
- How far from the coast were they when they made their last radio contact?
- What condition were they suffering from when they were found?
- What were the three elements of the “Trinomio concept” the navy used to find the men?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Storytelling
The full details of the fishermen’s ordeal are not yet known, however we can create our own stories of what may have transpired over their five days at sea and imagine what they may have been thinking and feeling.
Write a story from your own point of view (first person) as though you have been lost at sea. You can borrow details from the story of the men in this news article or create your own. Use vivid descriptions of events and emotions to capture the drama of this type of life-and-death situation.
Time: allow 40 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
What three items do you think would have been most useful for the fishermen to have had with them in their cooler box while they were lost at sea?
Write to explain why you think these three items would be better than any others.
Compare your list with a classmate. Have you chosen the same three items? If not, discuss the pros and cons of the items on your list to see if you can reach agreement.
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability
VCOP ACTIVITY
Read this!
A headline on an article – or a title on your text – should capture the attention of the audience, telling them to read this now. So choosing the perfect words for a headline or title is very important.
Create three new headlines for the events that took place in this article. Remember, what you write and how you write it will set the pace for the whole text, so make sure it matches.
Read out your headlines to a partner and discuss what the article will be about based on the headline you created. Discuss the tone and mood you set in just your few, short words. Does it do the article justice? Will it capture the audience’s attention the way you hoped? Would you want to read more?
Consider how a headline or title is similar to using short, sharp sentences throughout your text. They can be just as important as complex ones. Go through the last text you wrote and highlight any short, sharp sentences that capture the audience.