Could the Castaway Fisherman Really Have Survived At Sea?

In a strange turn of life imitating art–the art in this case being the 2000 movie Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks–a fisherman who went missing just over a year ago turned up on the shores of the Marshall Islands. His identity hasn’t been confirmed yet, but authorities in the Marshall Islands believe Jose Salvador Alvarenga was adrift at sea for 13 months after setting off from the Mexican village of Chiapas in late 2012. He left in a 24-foot fishing boat in search of sharks with the teenaged son of a friend. According to Alvarenga, the boy couldn’t stomach the diet of birds and turtles that Alvarenga had to eat, and died of starvation. As officials try to verify Alvarenga’s identity and his story, medical experts are also struggling to make sense of what is either a remarkable story of survival and fortitude, or a strange tale of a madman.