[caption id="attachment_78723" align="aligncenter" width="512"] Map locating the Marshall Islands, in the northern Pacific Ocean, which are home to barely 60,000 people spread over 24 atolls (Graphics/AFP)[/caption]Man Lost In Pacific Makes it to Shore

A man with a long beard and hair and wearing only ragged underpants surprised residents of a remote Pacific atoll when his 24-foot boat drifted into a reef.

Even more surprising was his claim that he had been lost in the Pacific Ocean for 16 months. The man, who spoke Spanish and identified himself as Jose Ivan, said he and a companion set out from Mexico in September 2012 and headed for El Salvador. He said his companion died at sea. The journey from Mexico to Ebon Atoll in the Marshall Islands took him more than 8,000 miles.

Officials said Ivan was weak and emaciated. There was no fishing gear on his boat, but there was a turtle. He said he survived by eating whatever turtles, birds and fish he could grab with his hands. He drank turtle blood when he couldn’t catch rainwater.

The people who found Ivan took him to the main island where he was given a medical exam and appeared to have low blood pressure but to be in relatively good health. A local family took him in and fed him while authorities made arrangements for him.

The Marshall Islands are in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and Australia.

Sources:

“Man Lost in Ocean Reaches Shores After Floating Over 12,500 KM in 16 Months,” Emeritus 24/7: http://www.emirates247.com/offbeat/crazy-world/man-lost-in-ocean-reaches-shores-after-floating-over-12-500km-in-16-months-2014-01-31-1.536759

“Marshall Islands,” Wikivoyage: http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands