Cruise pianist who fell overboard rescued after nine hours in the Pacific

In a dramatic rescue operation, two anglers fished a pianist from a cruise ship who had fallen overboard from the Pacific: As US media reported, the 37-year-old, who had been hired on the cruise ship "Ovation of the Seas", drifted in the sea for nine hours more than 30 kilometers off the coast of California.

The crucial question of how the man could fall from the cruise ship remains unanswered. According to the US Coast Guard, which is now investigating the case, the musician may have gone overboard around 2:30 a.m.

The two deep-sea anglers Grant Garrett and Sean Norton discovered the castaway in the water on Friday near Santa Catalina Island, which belongs to Los Angeles County. They were on their way back from a fishing trip by boat. "I said to myself: There's a person. Let's stop the boat," Garrett said on CBS.

"Grant and I grabbed his arms to pull him out. He was in complete shock," Norton added. "The only thing he said to me was: 'Thank you. I thought I was going to die.'" In his opinion, the pianist was able to survive in the ocean for so long because the water temperatures in the Pacific are currently exceptionally high due to the climate phenomenon El Niño.