scheduled tribe. Petersburg, Fla. ( Associated Press) — Turbulent ocean waters around Florida can be treacherous even on a calm, sunny day. Throw an overloaded boat, inexperienced sailors, stormy weather and in the dark of night, and they can be fatal.
The US Coast Guard conducted searches on Wednesday The 25-foot (7-metre) boat sails north of its start in Bimini, Bahamas, off the coast of Fort Pierce, Florida, for any potential survivors. A Good Samaritan found a man on top of an overturned pot on Tuesday; The man said that he and 39 others had left Bimini three days ago. Officials said they found one body, while 38 others were still missing. The Homeland Security Investigation has launched an investigation into human trafficking.
Officials say it is extremely difficult to find people who may be swimming in the vast waters of the mighty Gulf Stream.
Migrants who try to get to the US by sea “put their lives at incredible risk,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Meyerkas remarked last summer during a surge in Haitian migration. “The time is never right to attempt a migration by sea.”
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Why is water so dangerous?
The Gulf Stream Current curves around the tip of Florida, flows right next to Bimini, Bahamas—where the capsized boat apparently began its journey—and skirts the northbound Florida shoreline. Any handicapped ship will be pushed away to the north by that stream if it has no power and no one comes to the rescue. Two 14-year-old boys from Palm Beach County went missing on a stormtrooper fishing trip in 2015; His boat was eventually found near Bermuda. Their bodies were never recovered.
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What about sharks?
Florida is the shark bite capital of the world. Researchers with the International Shark Attack File say a new report That Florida has led the US and the rest of the world in unprovoked shark bites for decades, and that trend continued into 2021. Florida had 28 unprovoked bites last year, compared to 19 in the rest of the US and 26 outside the US. Last year a Florida bite was recorded as fatal.
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Why is it so difficult to find people in the ocean?
It’s a really big ocean. The Coast Guard said on Wednesday it had searched an area the size of New Jersey for survivors of a capsized boat, sped through both air and sea. A man floating in the ocean is a tiny speck in that vast area. The Coast Guard recommends people wear life vests first, but also consider bright colors like orange or purple — and reflective materials — to help rescuers find them. But the ocean is forgiving: in October 2015, the 791-foot (241-m) El Faro freighter With 33 crew members aboard the Bahamas during Hurricane Joaquin. No body was ever recovered, although one was seen from the air.
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Why do migrants keep trying?
Cubans are traveling From his island to America by sea since the communist takeover of Fidel Castro in 1959. Many years after Castro’s death, hundreds of people have died trying to escape the communist regime that ran the island. Haitians who leave fleeing poverty, natural disasters and ineffective governments. Even expatriates from China and elsewhere travel. They often pay smugglers thousands of dollars for each attempt; Some are forced to swim in the last leg of the journey to reach their final destination.
“You’re dealing with criminal organizations that have no regard for human life,” said special agent Anthony Salisbury, in charge of the Homeland Security investigation in Miami. “It’s just about the money.”
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Hemingway’s Bimini
Ernest Hemingway’s novel “Islands in the Stream”, published after his death in 1970, is based on the author’s experiences fishing the Gulf Stream in Bimini. The island is just a short boat trip Or flying from Miami.
Part of the story involves the hunt for German U-boats during World War II, which is something Hemingway actually did on his boat, the Pillar. Bimini, and the Bahamas in general, have long been a stopping point for both human and drug traffickers. Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar also had an airstrip for drug flights elsewhere in the Bahamas.
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