INTO THE WILD WATCH

Adrift at sea off Key Largo, scuba divers contemplated death

KEY LARGO, Florida (27 Jan 2006) -- The divers had been floating in the chilling water for hours when they saw the shark fin cut through a wave.

It was just 20 feet away, and that's when Michael Kittle realized the awful truth: He and friend Mark Hines might not make it out of this alive.

"I thought, 'God, you've got to be kidding me," said Kittle, 31, of Fort Myers. "Sharks mainly feed at dusk.

"So you better believe that was going through my mind."

The two men came to Key Largo in the Florida Keys to scuba dive, but they almost didn't make it home to Lee County.

After their boat line snapped while they were underwater, the two men spent eight hours swimming Sunday — first trying to reach their boat, then trying to kick to shore miles away.

Finally, they made it to a small island off Rattlesnake Key. And a U.S. Coast Guard boat found them after a four-hour search.


Mirror.co.uk - News - SAILOR LOST FOR 4 DAYS

A BRITISH yachtsman has been rescued after drifting in shark-infested waters in the Atlantic for four days without food or water.

Peter Chandler, 52, was 700 miles into his 2,250-mile solo voyage from the Cape Verde Islands to Barbados when his rudder fell off.

The engine on his 28-foot yacht Inca faltered in rough seas and his fishing gear was dragged away by sharks.

His SOS was heard by an oil tanker, which alerted Barbados coastguard.

The father-of-two, from East London, kept his spirits up by whistling Rod Stewart songs. "It was by far my worst experience in my 25 years at sea," he said.