Rescue in Bering Sea: 'That's One Tough Kid'

A 15-year-old boy survived on top of an overturned skiff in Alaska's frigid Bering Sea for roughly two days, losing his older brother and then his cousin to the ocean after the boat capsized while they were out fishing. The teen, identified by a relative as Derek Parker Aghnaanga, was finally hoisted to safety on Monday by a fishing boat near St. Lawrence Island, a remote Alaskan island closer to Russia than it is to the US, per the AP. The bodies of his cousin and brother were also recovered. The cousin had held onto the overturned boat for a while, too, but didn't make it to the rescue, the teen told one of his rescuers.

The captain of the fishing boat that came to his aid said Derek clung to the skiff through darkness and water temperatures around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. "That's one tough kid," Adam White, captain of the Northwest Explorer, told KTUU. US Coast Guard planes and helicopters began searching for the skiff on Monday morning after family members reported the three missing the night before. The group had left the village of Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island on Friday and planned to return early Sunday, the Coast Guard said.

Halibut fishing is part of the culture and important to survival in the village, and residents often share their catch with family and neighbors, said Collen Walker, an aunt of the two brothers. "That's how we do it in our community. We take care of one another," she said Friday. "We still live a traditional way of life, even if the world is changing." Derek often went fishing with his 35-year-old brother, Sidney Kulowiyi, and looked to him as a father figure ever since their own father died when they were younger, Walker said. She described Kulowiyi, a commercial fishing captain, as a humble and loving "provider for people in the village." She declined to release the name of their cousin who died, saying he also came from Savoonga.

The skiff capsized on Saturday night far out in the ocean, she was told. The Coast Guard said one of its aircrews spotted the boy on Monday morning and deployed a raft and supplies before contacting the Northwest Explorer. Video of the rescue shows Derek in a bright yellow jacket kneeling atop the overturned skiff. The boat's crew tossed him a line, tugging the skiff closer until they could pull him into a rescue basket. He was experiencing symptoms of hypothermia when he got onto the boat, the Coast Guard said. The fishing boat crew warmed him with blankets and hot packs, its captain noted.