José Salvador Alvarenga

José Salvador Alvarenga (; born ) is a Salvadoran fisherman and author who was found on January 30, 2014, aged 36 or 37, on the Marshall Islands after spending 14 months adrift in a fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean beginning on November 17, 2012. He survived mainly on a diet of raw fish, turtles, small birds, sharks and rainwater. He swam to shore at Tile Islet, a small island that is part of Ebon Atoll, on January 30. He was treated in a hospital in Majuro

Alvarenga's story was heavily reported worldwide despite initial criticism from skeptics. He is the first person in recorded history to have survived in a small boat lost at sea for more than a year.

Early and personal life Alvarenga was born in Garita Palmera, Ahuachapán, El Salvador, to José Ricardo Orellana and María Julia Alvarenga. His father, Orellana, owns a flour mill and store in the town. At the time of his rescue, he had not been in touch with his family in eight years.

Voyage

On November 17, 2012, Alvarenga set out from the fishing village of Costa Azul, near Pijijiapan, off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico. Having neither sails nor oars, no anchor, no running lights, and no other way to contact shore, the boat began to drift across the open ocean. Alvarenga has said that he contemplated suicide for four days after Córdoba died,

Alvarenga reported that he saw numerous transoceanic container ships but was unable to solicit help. He kept track of time by counting the phases of the moon. but eventually corrected this to 13 months. He was anemic, and doctors suspected that his consumption of raw meat had led to parasites infecting his liver. On February 6 the doctor treating him reported that his health had "gone downhill" since the day before and that he was on an IV drip to treat his dehydration.

Reactions

Family Alvarenga's parents, who had not been in contact with him for more than a year, had feared he was dead long before he went missing, and they were overjoyed to discover he was still alive. The Guardian found the Chiapas rescue services official, Jaime Marroquín, who was informed that a fishing boat had gone missing in the area on November 17, 2012. The official report identified the two fishermen as Cirilo Vargas and Ezequiel Córdova, Another explanation was provided by Alvarenga's parents, as reported by National Post, when they confirmed that in Mexico their son was known as "Cirilo".

Tom Armbruster, the United States ambassador to the Marshall Islands, acknowledged that it seems implausible for someone to survive at sea for 13 months, but that "it's also hard to imagine how someone might arrive on Ebon out of the blue. Certainly this guy has had an ordeal, and has been at sea for some time." Norman Barth, also of the American Embassy in the Marshall Islands, did the initial questioning of Alvarenga upon his arrival in Majuro and found him to be truthful. In addition, Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at the University of New South Wales, said that it was entirely possible that sea currents could carry a boat from Mexico to the Marshall Islands. He also estimated that such a trip would take about 18 months, but said that 13 months was still plausible. Further support for his account came from a study by researchers from the University of Hawaii that modeled the path a boat might have taken after departing from the Pacific Coast in Mexico based on wind and currents, and concluded that it would end up "within of Ebon", where Alvarenga actually landed. In April 2014, Alvarenga's lawyer told a press conference that he had passed a polygraph test while being asked about his voyage.

Life after rescue After 11 days in a hospital, Alvarenga was deemed healthy enough to return to El Salvador. However, he was diagnosed with anemia, had trouble sleeping and developed a fear of water. In 2015, he gave a series of interviews about his ordeal to journalist Jonathan Franklin, who later told Alvarenga's story in the book 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea.