Fisherman Found Alive After 12 Hours at Sea Recounts Tale To Weather Channel

The Weather Channel's new web series, “Alive,” asks this question: If faced with the ultimate life-or-death situation, would you have the strength to survive?

The South Fork is home to one man who exhibited that will to survive — John Aldridge, the Montauk lobster fisherman who kept himself afloat for about 12 hours after he fell overboard in July, five hours after leaving the Montauk inlet. He used his rubber boots to stay afloat in shark infested waters, and come sunrise, he swam to a buoy.

His fishing partner, Anthony Sosinski, discovered he was missing in the morning, and a massive search was launched with the help of the Coast Guard and fellow fishermen.

They covered 1,100 square miles of water, which stretched from Montauk to 50 nautical miles offshore. The Coast Guard describes the search as looking for "a needle in a hay stack."

Commander Jonathan Theel, in his interview for the episode, "Lost at Sea," said they knew Aldridge only had 19 hours before he wasn't able to use his legs and hands anymore. The water temperature was 70 degrees.

"I have too many people that love me to die," Aldridge said.

In his interview, he recounts how he waved at boats in the distance and saw the helicopter searching for him all day. He swam further west at one point to try and get more in their search pattern.

At about 3 p.m., a Coast Guard MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter rescue crew had only 30 minutes left before they needed to refuel, and had been given clearance to go back to base. However, crew members asked for one more search pattern, and that's when they located Aldridge about 43 miles south of Montauk Point.

They hoisted him up, and he was airlifted to Falmouth Hospital in Massachusetts, where he was treated for exposure, hypothermia and dehydration. He was back on Long Island the next day and made a full recovery.

Just last week, the Coast Guard honored Coast Guard Station Montauk members and the fishermen who aided in the search. Aldridge was there to thank them.