Aussie Sailor Tim Shaddock and Dog Found After Being Lost At Sea: How Did They Survive?

An Australian sailor named Tim Shaddock and his dog named Bella were rescued after three months of being stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

According to the 51-year-old Sydney man, as he told Australian TV network 9News, he departed from the Mexican port town of La Paz en route to French Polynesia, but a storm struck his catamaran, wiping out all of her electronics.

For the remainder of their journey, the man and his pet were reduced to eating small amounts of raw fish and drinking rainwater until they were rescued by a Mexican tuna trawler over the weekend.

"I have been through a very difficult ordeal at sea," Shaddock told local media, adding he was lucky to have fishing and other survival gear with him.

"I have not had food, enough food, for a long time," he said.

Upon his rescue, doctors treating Shaddock aboard the trawler were surprised he had "normal vital signs."

Shaddock and Bella were spotted by a helicopter serving the tuna trawler, which was on its way back to Mexico, 9News reported.

Physiologist: Shaddock's Survival Credited to Luck and Right Behavior

According to University of Portsmouth physiology professor Mike Tipton, Shaddock was lucky his boat had a canopy for him to rest in the shade.

"If you get sunburn, that affects your ability to regulate your body temperature," he said. "If you do absolutely nothing and you rest and you stay cool, you can get away with as [little] as 110 to 220 milliliters of water a day."

Tipton added Bella's company was also helpful as it kept him sane during his three-month ordeal while being lost at sea as a "needle in a haystack."

"It was a combination of luck and the right behavior," he added.