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Thrown Overboard, He Found a Buoy Covered in Seals

California fisherman held on for 7 hours, leading to his rescue
Posted Aug 12, 2025 12:46 PM CDT
Thrown Overboard, He Found a Buoy Covered in Seals
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/TheGrumpyOldMan)

Alone in cool waters off California's Central Coast, a 29-year-old fisherman survived a harrowing night by clinging to a buoy for nearly seven hours—with several seal companions. The Morro Bay Police Department said John Gsell's boat "struck a large object" around 10pm on Friday, sending him into the 55-degree water. Unable to reach his drifting boat, Gsell aimed for land, guided by the moonlit outline of Morro Rock, per SFGate. Along the way, he spotted a buoy and invested an hour swimming to it, ultimately hauling himself aboard, where he found a few local seals.

Around 4:45am Saturday, the US Coast Guard found his empty boat bobbing a quarter mile from Morro Strand State Beach, sparking a multiagency search. Despite efforts from Harbor Patrol, fire crews, and police combing the shoreline, Gsell remained missing for two more hours until another fisherman, heading out early, spied Gsell perched on the buoy roughly a mile offshore of Morro Rock. That concluded a survival story fit for a sea shanty. A local said it showed "the grit of the fisherman." Gsell is also a former US Marine, per the San Luis Opispo Tribune. "We thank the local fisherman for his early departure ... and good luck in driving towards Gsell, most likely saving his life and reuniting him with his loved one," said police.

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