Puppy jumps from capsizing boat into frigid water, then gets stuck under Alaska cliff
A puppy presumed to have drowned in a shipwreck off Alaska was discovered a day later in the oddest of predicaments — stuck between crashing waves and rocks at the bottom of a cliff.
Grace, who is 8 months old, was rescued Nov. 2 by the U.S. Coast Guard.
It is assumed she had been trapped at the spot since the morning of Nov. 1, when she dramatically leaped into frigid water off the deck of a capsizing fishing trawler, officials said.
The incident happened off Kodiak Island, in southern Alaska. Winds were at 24 mph at the time and the water temperature was 43 degrees, officials said in a news release.
Photos shared by the Coast Guard show the dog appearing as a black dot against the rocks, after she backed as far as possible from the water below.
Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Rafael Aguero reports Grace was spotted not far from the boat, sitting “on a narrow beach with about 20- to 40-foot cliffs all around her,” according to station KTOO.
“She was definitely in a little bit of a shock,” he told the station. “She wagged her tail a little bit. And then I went, picked her up and scrambled back up the cliffs. ... To go through those conditions and spend 36 hours alone in the wilderness like that on the beach with the cold ... it’s absolutely incredible.”
Coast Guard photos show the trawler, named Laura, was on its side against rocks and being hit by waves.
The boat ran aground around 7 a.m. Nov. 1, and the crew of four abandoned ship in life rafts, officials said. Temperatures were 39 degrees at the time, officials said.
A helicopter was sent to pick up the crew, photos show.
“Everybody loves a happy ending, especially when it involves a rescued puppy,” the Coast Guard wrote on Facebook.
The Coast Guard says it intends to investigate the incident. There are no signs the trawler’s 4,000 gallons of diesel are leaking into the ocean, officials said.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Puppy jumps from capsizing boat into frigid water, then gets stuck under Alaska cliff."