2 AUSTRALIAN COAST GUARDS SPOT A WEIRD OBJECT FLOATING ON THE WATER AND MISTAKE IT FOR A TOY

 

Two coast guards were coming back from a mission of theirs when they saw an object floating in the sea. Well, first they thought it to be a stuffed toy but as they paced closer they realized it was not a stuffed toy but something else. First, they spotted hair and then noticed it’s limbs. And when they reached closer to it, they felt their heart miss a beat.

Something In The Water

They were in the middle of the ocean. He spotted the object and felt something off about it. So, the man motored past the mooring thrice to have a closer look at the object in front of the wooden pole. The object had brown hair floating above the water. Except for the hair that bobbed up and down, the object was motionless. He assumed perhaps someone had lost their stuffed toy. But just a second after the object began to move in fact, it began to throw its arm up and down and begun to slip off the mooring into the water. His heart drowned when he realized what was it. 

Coast Guards

Gary Sissons and Sean Hannam descended into the ocean quite early than usual in the morning. Both of them were on their duty as Members of The Australian Volunteer Coast Guard. They were returning back after towing a stranded boat around Warneet. And now as their mission was achieved, they were heading back to the shore i.e. off the Victoria Coast. 

Creeping Closer

Sean knew what to do exactly. He motored right in the direction of the mooring and halted the engine of the boat in order to move closer to the object. The object was brown in color and so was getting more and more visible as they sped closer. They realized how big the object was. Gradually, the drenched object too popped up. At that time Gary thought it to be a bunch of flotsam and algae that must have gotten stuck into the mooring. But that was not what was it.        

It Had Hair

Sean strained his eyes to see what was that. There were locks of long brown hair that was tugged by the flow of waves. A weird sight was awaiting them. As they got closer they realized that the object had limbs. Yes, it had two arms and two legs. However, the object did not move an inch. Sean had never felt so terrified and confused before. If it was not a soft toy then what was it? They soon were going to find out. 

Fearing The Worst

The boat now was running in parallel to the mooring. And as far as the men were concerned then they both were dead silent. They were filled with anxiety, fear, and confusion. Gary had his heart in his mouth as he moved closer. Both of them were praying, “Please, let that not be a body.” Sean bent down to see what was that. He learned that the object was heavy and owned a wet mass. One more thing, they were limbs for sure. 

Short-Lived Relief

It was then Sean broke the silence, “It’s just a stuffed toy.” With that, the man dragged a deep sigh of relief followed by a big laugh from both. Sean had no idea that they were so wrong. He steered the boat and said, “Let’s go,” in order to switch over to another direction. But as they began to move away from the wooden pole, they kickstarted the engine that gave a pull to the thing and the limb began to move.         

A Movement

“Wait,” Sean shouted, “Stop!” Gary turned around and saw Sean’s face turned red with fear. The man stopped the engine at an instance. He was shivering from fear. He rushed to Sean and they bent forward to give it another look. Again, the object was not moving at all. Gary and Sean’s heart stopped a beat when t began to twist. Sean said, “I saw its arms move,” He stretched his finger towards it “There, see!” The man was absolutely right.

Mysterious Creature

Gary further explained, “That’s no stuffed toy.” Sean saw that closely and wondered what was it. The object did not look like any sea animal. It is noteworthy here that the man had spent a large fraction of his life traveling in the ocean. But not for once he had seen something like this. The man got another surprise when he realized that he was actually staring in the object’s tiny, black eyes. The mystery was going to take another turn.       

What Was It?

The man was still struggling to understand when the mass began to emerge out of the water. In no time, the object raised its head and began to struggle to stay above the water. After that, it began to slide off the black tire. No matter how much it tried, it could not succeed in clinging to the tire. Then it gave out a shout that sounded like a request to them. And that was the very moment they had their rude awakening. 

Living?

It was not a toy but a living being. The creature was writhing in pain that was trying its best to come above the water. But unfortunately, no efforts of his was bringing any fruitful result. It tried to get a hold on the wooden pole with the help of its disheveled arm but that gave no result.            

Diving In

Sean immediately sprung into action. He sped off the boat towards it to help the animal. However, the step seemed to be counter-productive as the animal had to struggle more as they paddled the boat towards it, thanks to the wave created because of the speed of the vessel. 

Not Sure

It was a heart-melting scene. Though he wanted to help the creature but was not sure if it let him go near to it. Nevertheless, there was no point in trying. His long black claws had made many scratch marks on the pole while holding it. All this while, he was not sure if the animal would let him touch it.  

Unusual Rescue

The truth dawned upon him when he realized that it was a Koala. Now, what was he doing there amid the bay? How did it come to this far? There were many questions popping up on their mind but as time was running out of their hands, they decided to rescue the stranded animal first. Without thinking twice he jumped into the cold water……

His Presence

The man made his way to the mooring. He swam up to the koala but the animal appeared not to be in the mood to bear his presence. He moved backward in line with the ropes. The strings were hooked to the tire. Sean understood by then that Koala was going to hamper this rescue mission.     

Exhausted

Gary on the other side hurled a rescue board towards Sean in the water. Sean immediately took hold of it. He with a racing heart moved towards the Koala and then something happened that he had not expected. Koala went limping on seeing him coming. It was ready to give itself over to Sean. 

In Peace

Sean picked it up and placed it above the board. He saw the creature staring at him with exhausted brown eyes and then he shut it off after letting out a sigh. That moment a fear coursed through their body. Was the luck on their side or not? 

Too Late?

Sean made his way back to the boat carrying the tired koala and brought him onboard. The koala did not move at all. Gary and Sean were fearful that perhaps the koala had given up on his life. They pushed that thought away and covered him in an insulation blanket and prayed. Sean reminisces, “We turned the engine off and I threw a blanket over him while I was standing on the ladder at the back of the boat,”

Was He Fine?

After observing some warmth, the creature awoke from his unconsciousness. It moved its head very slowly though it was enough to indicate that the Koala was fine. Both of them took a sigh of relief. This was the very first time they had come across a situation like this, so they could not understand what to do with him. 

An Idea

It was then an idea clicked Sean. He was well aware of a tiny, unpeopled island somewhere around there location where a colony of Koala bears stayed. He knew that would be a perfect spot for him to come over his distressing experience. The place will offer peace to him. Perhaps, the Koala had washed towards the mooring from this very island.   

Arrival

But still, it was difficult to understand as to how the koala made it to 1,000 feet away from land. He ended up clinging onto the wooden mooring pole to survive. However, they knew that the koalas do swim but they can’t swim for a longer period of time. They are not very good at swimming and prefers to avoid it. They avoid water. 

Motionless

The men reached Quail island in about half an hour. Thereafter, they carried the koala in their hand and placed him on the spot nearing some bushes. However, the koala laid still with eyes fixed at some distant object. The men’s concern grew, perhaps his unfortunate encounter with the ocean had jerked him off his senses. 

What Was Going On?

Had they really saved the koala? There was no assurance of it. Considering the current state of koala it seemed that it had lost all the hopes of living. But the duo was yet to give up on hope. What was going to happen was still a mystery. 

Gratitude

The koala turned around to have a look at his rescuers. After that, he stood up coming out of the warm blanket and limped towards the brush. And in no time, the koala disappeared. Sean and Gary had a big smile on their faces. They had managed to rescue the koala.    

Comment

One of the crew members recall, “It was very shocking, it’s not daily you come across a koala in the water! The koala seems very joyful when it was at the backside on boat.” “It was a great feel story with a joyful conclusion for our fuzzy small companion,”

The Risks

Koalas generally are not detrimental but can cause trouble by giving some awful wounds with the claws and teeth. Not only that, sometimes, they also bear diseases that can transmit to humans. In this context, Sean had taken a big risk.    

Gone Viral

Though Sean did not get a scratch while handling the koala he cracked a joke on Facebook by saying, “I lost two fingers and have scratch marks from head to toe, but he got to walk away gracefully, those drop bears are viscous [sic].” 

Went Viral

In no time, this rescue story went viral. Every person who read the story got emotional and congratulated Sean and Gary for their altruistic act. Not many people have this tendency. Soon, the news reached the local news stations.

On The News

Westernport coast guard’s commander, Jeremy West, commented: “It was pretty surprising – it’s not every day you come across a koala in the water. The koala looked pretty happy when it was back on the land.”

Endangered

One commenter exclaimed, “Oh wow, poor little guy! Great work!” To which Hannam replied, “[It’s] just the conservationist in me.” Well, his words also shed light on the current status of koalas. Unfortunately, koalas are on the ‘Vulnerable’ list published by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).  This situation is caused by habitat loss and urban incidents. 

Well Done

A Facebook user commented, “Glad you found and rescued him and I bet he was very glad too.” She added, “Well done coast guard.”