After Milton, It Was Just Him, the Sea, and His Cooler

It was "a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner," a Coast Guard official said Thursday after a fishing boat captain was rescued from the Gulf of Mexico, where he'd been clinging to a cooler. It was the man's second rescue in four days, per the Washington Post. The unidentified man and another fisherman were first rescued from a disabled fishing boat, some 20 miles off John's Pass in Pinellas County, on Monday. The captain then returned to the boat off Florida's Madeira Beach around 3am Wednesday to make repairs. Hours later, he was still with the vessel, which "became disabled during his transit back to port," according to a release.

The man made contact with the Coast Guard station in St. Petersburg around 6:45pm Wednesday as Hurricane Milton approached Florida, but the agency lost contact with him after that. Luckily, the man had been advised "to wear a life jacket and to hold onto the boat's emergency beacon," per the Post. Located around 1:30pm Thursday, the man was not with his boat. He was 30 miles off Longboat Key in an open chest cooler, according to video shared by the Coast Guard. It shows a diver being lowered from a helicopter, then swimming to the cooler.

"We estimate he experienced approximately 75-90mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight," said Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, the Coast Guard's command center chief in St. Petersburg, who did not say how the man got separated from his vessel. "He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler," Grady said. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that at least 340 people and 49 pets were rescued amid Milton's destruction, per the Guardian. (In another case, a 14-year-old boy whisked away in Tampa floodwaters was rescued from a floating section of fence.)