Category Archives: rescue

Mar6

lost and found and lost and found again.

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Update on my recent post – great news:
After enlisting the public’s help to find Elvis Francois, a sailor who survived weeks lost at sea off of ketchup and seasonings, ketchup giant Heinz has finally tracked him down – and plans to gift him a new boat.

On February 14, the company published a call for help on social media, saying they were struggling to get in touch with Francois. The Dominica-born sailor made headlines after he spent 24 days adrift in the Caribbean Sea in January. After being rescued by the Colombian navy, Francois, 47, told officials that he had survived off of a bottle of ketchup, garlic powder, and Maggi stock cubes, which he mixed with water. Ketchup helped him survive weeks lost at sea.

Heinz told CNN on Monday that they found Francois with the help of local reporters in Dominica working for the publication EmoNews. The company had previously said that they hoped to gift him “a new, state-of-the-art boat” to celebrate his safe return. “We were able to connect with him and discuss the best way help support him and his family,” a Heinz representative told CNN. “We (Heinz) and Elvis are currently working out the logistical details of gifting him his new boat.”

The company emphasized the central role social media played in helping locate the sailor. “Anyone who shared, liked or commented on the brand’s post helped broaden the reach and played an important part in finding Elvis,” said Heinz.

Francois was repairing his boat off the island of Saint Martin in December when his boat was pulled out to sea. He told Colombian authorities that he lacked the navigational knowledge to return to shore and spent 24 days lost at sea. He was rescued after a plane spotted his sailboat with “help” engraved into the hull, according to Colombian authorities.

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“sometimes,” she whispered, “you need to be lost in order to be found.”
 -danika stone

 

 

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credits: zoe sottile, cnn, emonews, columbian navy press office

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feb25

elvis has left the boat.

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Heinz wants to find the man who survived nearly a month at sea with nothing but ketchup and seasonings to help him buy a new boat

Heinz is looking for people to help the company find a treasure – but it’s not gold. After they learned that a man who survived a month at sea with nothing but ketchup and seasonings, the company said it wants to find him to help him buy a new boat. But so far, they haven’t been able to find him.

In a virtual message in a bottle, the company put out a request for assistance on Instagram last week.Elvis Francois was working on his boat in St. Maarten in December when he accidentally started drifting out to sea. The weather had suddenly changed, and he said in a video released by the Colombian Navy, who rescued him, that he had lost his ability to navigate.

“I tried to [go] back to port, but I lost track because it took me a while to mount the sail and fix the sail,” he said. “…I call my friends, my coworkers. They tried to contact me, but they lost service. There was nothing else I could do than sit down and wait.”

He wrote out the word “help” on the back of his boat, and he was eventually rescued – after 24 days with nothing but “a bottle of ketchup…garlic powder and Maggi [soup].”

The navy said that officers took Francois to the Port of Cartagena to receive medical care and that he was “found to be in good health.” While there, they also started the necessary actions to help him return home.

“We’re setting this message adrift into the sea of the internet, because if anyone can help us find him, it’s you,” the company said. “If you or anyone you know can help us get in contact with Elvis Francois, please drop us a DM.”

In a statement to CBS News on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Heinz said that they want to “gift” Elvis a “new state-of-the-art boat.” That boat, they said, will be “equipped with full navigational technology to avoid another disaster in the future.” It’s currently an international effort, with Heinz markets “around the world” getting involved. “We’re hoping to spread the word far and wide so Heinz can finally gift the new boat to Elvis,” the company said.

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“for whatever we lose (like a you or a me), it’s always our self we find in the sea.”

-e.e. cummings

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source credit: liz cohen, cbs news

Nov2

go fish!

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The Paris Aquarium Is Home to a Massive Rescued Goldfish Sanctuary 

The future rarely looks bright for an unloved goldfish. Its owner may confine it to a small bowl and deprive it of the space or stimulation it needs, or worse, flush it down the toilet while it’s still alive. But the Paris Aquarium is offering regretful pet owners a better solution: Any unwanted fish that are brought there will be cared for and given a new home in a massive tank, The Nation reports.

The French aquarium launched its goldfish rescue program two years ago, and it houses roughly 600 rescued fish today. Many of the pets that are handed over arrive in poor health. Each specimen is given medical care, including antibiotics and anti-parasite treatments, and kept in quarantine for a month before transitioning to the tank with the rest of the fish. Some goldfish don’t survive the move, but those that do often thrive, growing up to a foot in length.

People have different reasons for taking advantage of the aquarium’s service. For some, it’s a convenient—and eco-friendly—way to get rid of a pet they no longer want. When fish are disposed of in sewage systems, they face almost certain death, and when they’re released directly into a pond or river, they can grow to monstrous proportions and wreak havoc on the local ecosystem.

In other cases, pet owners see that the aquarium can provide a better life for their fish than they ever could. Goldfish can suffer from depression when they’re kept in a small, empty environment, and goldfish bowls have even been banned in some parts of the world for being inhumane. The fish sanctuary is open to members of the public to view—including anyone wishing to check up on a former pet.

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“a goldfish is reason enough for living, if someone needs a reason.”

-martin cooley

 

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credits: michelle debczak, mental floss, the nation

Aug21

mixing it up.

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something tells me that

perhaps the wrong cat

drank the rescue remedy calming drops

from the water bowl.

one is facedown in a bowl of seashells

while the other, (my intended target)

is busy outside

standing up on two feet

looking in at me through the window

and meowing loudly.

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“mixing one’s wines may be a mistake, but old and new wisdom mix admirably.”

-bertolt brecht

Jul16

the smallest feline is a masterpiece. – leonardo da vinci

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and we have added to our family once again.

this handsome fellow,

a flyweight

weighing in at just 8 pounds

and 8 years old

has lived a hard life

first on his own

surviving

on the mean streets

with scars, and cuts, and ruffled fur

then with a family

who may not have fully appreciated his charms

and he was sent away

to spend his days in a small cage

 with nothing but an uncertain future

and a short timeline ahead

but he has persevered

against all odds.

–

and when we walked into the shelter

and he reached

with

a tiny ginger paw

out of his cell

to wave to us

and called out

with a little voice

we knew

he had been waiting a long time

to meet us

just as

we had been waiting a long time

to meet him.

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and when

we carried him into the cottage

he

was instantly transformed

into

the most affectionate and gentle cat

we have ever met

and knew that he was home at last.

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(he has been lovingly named nacho, and he is the furry one with the orange hair.)

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