Drifting on a capsized skiff, an Alaskan teenager was pulled to safety after multiple days in the Bering Sea. Kneeling on the overturned boat with his head down, the 15-year-old held the line that would haul him to shelter.
The rescue followed a fishing trip by two brothers and a cousin from the remote Siberian Yupik village of Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island. The three left Friday in an 18-foot skiff in search of halibut and were expected back by early Sunday morning. When they failed to return, Alaska State Troopers were notified Sunday afternoon. The troopers later alerted the U.S. Coast Guard.
In a press release issued by the United States Coast Guard on September 7, “Coast Guard Arctic District Command Center watchstanders were notified of the overdue vessel by the Alaska State Troopers at approximately 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Due to on-scene weather conditions and poor visibility, an aircrew in an HC-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak launched Monday morning and has arrived on scene.”
Coast Guard aircrew located the missing vessel approximately four miles off the coast of St. Lawrence Island, with the lone survivor sitting atop the overturned hull. Although the aircraft had to divert due to low fuel, the crew coordinated the rescue with the Northwest Explorer, a 162-foot fishing vessel already operating in the general area.
The Northwest Explorer diverted and located the capsized skiff. According to theAnchorage Daily News the crew spotted the teenager while glassing with a pair of binoculars across the ocean. They got a line to the skiff and pulled him aboard. Multiple videos of the rescue show a crew member grabbing the exhausted survivor and hoisting him into a rescue stretcher lowered alongside the larger vessel. Showing signs of hypothermia, the teenager had trouble getting to his feet as rescuers moved him inside the cabin.
“That is one remarkably tough kid,” stated the captain of the Northwest Explorer, Adam White.
Once the 15-year-old was secure, the crew of the Northwest Explorer, with assistance from the Coast Guard, recovered the bodies of his brother and cousin. The survivor and the two deceased were transported to Nome.
In an online fundraiser, an aunt of the survivor said, “Our village is mourning the loss of two. My nephew tried to hang onto them as long as he could after they drowned.”
Known for its strong currents, treacherous weather, and frigid water, the Bering Sea offered little margin for error. That this young man survived multiple days and nights fighting for survival stands as a testament to the resilience of the people who inhabit the outer reaches of western Alaska and the Indigenous Yupik communities of the region.
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