A 15-year-old Alaska boy was pulled from the overturned hull of an 18-foot skiff Monday after surviving more than two days in the Bering Sea as his older brother and cousin perished.
The teenager, whose name has not been released, was spotted by a Coast Guard aircrew at approximately 10:30 a.m. Local time roughly four miles east of St. Lawrence Island, showing clear symptoms of hypothermia. A nearby fishing vessel, the Northwest Explorer, was directed to the scene after the Coast Guard dropped a life raft and survival equipment to the boy. Before departing to refuel, the aircraft crew laid a line of flares across the water to guide the rescue boat through the frigid conditions.
Captain Adam White of the Northwest Explorer described the boy’s condition when his crew hauled him aboard. “The boy was able to explain what had happened despite his ‘chattering teeth,'” White said. The teenager told rescuers that his brother was still beneath the skiff and that his cousin had slipped off the hull the previous night. The crew kept him talking as they worked to warm him and transport him to Nome.
The three had set out from Savoonga on Friday for a halibut fishing trip. The 15-year-old was accompanied by his brother, Sidney Kulowiyi, 35, and their cousin, Barton Rookok, 34. The boat was expected back at approximately 3 a.m. Sunday but never returned.
Family spokesman Darren Toolie-Noongwook provided a detailed account of how the tragedy unfolded. A fishing line became tangled in the motor and caused the skiff to flip, he explained. Kulowiyi then became caught in the line and was pulled beneath the overturned boat.
Toolie-Noongwook said the teenager and Rookok managed to climb onto the exposed hull and spent the first night there together. During the following night, Rookok became distressed, entered the water and drowned, leaving the boy completely alone on the skiff.
The family said the teenager survived without food or drinking water as waves struck the overturned hull and spent part of the nights kneeling and praying. Exactly how long he remained there remains unclear, and rescuers gave varying estimates of the water temperature, ranging from about 40 to 50 degrees.
Toolie-Noongwook said the boat flipped at approximately 8:03 p.m. Friday, which would mean the boy spent more than 62 hours on the overturned vessel before the Coast Guard spotted him Monday morning. However, an aunt separately said that she had been told the boat capsized Saturday night. The Coast Guard has not released an official time for the capsize or publicly determined what caused the skiff to capsize.
Video obtained by KTUU-TV shows the teen alone on the exposed hull as the Northwest Explorer closes in, the small figure visible against the vast expanse of the Bering Sea before the crew reached him.
The Coast Guard continues its investigation into the incident.
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