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Nick Hayworth never thought he would ever see his German Shepard puppy named Luna when she fell off a boat and was lost at sea on the morning of February 10th. Amazingly, five-weeks later Luna was found by the Navy and it was nothing short of a miracle.
The 18-month-old dog went overboard while on a fishing boat. One minute Luna was there, then the next minute she was gone, the family said. Haworth, a commercial fisherman from San Diego, searched the waters for two days.
No sign of Luna.
The Navy searched San Clemente Island, which was the closest piece of land to where Luna disappeared.
No sign of Luna.
Five-weeks later, the U.S. Navy found Luna on San Clemente Island, which is 70 miles off San Diego. Luna managed to doggy-paddle an exhausting two miles in the Pacific Ocean from the boat to the island. Navy staff was near Naval Auxiliary Landing Field on the island when they found Luna.
“They were pulling in their (lobster) traps, and one minute Luna was there, and the next minute she was gone,” said Sandy DeMunnik, spokeswoman for Naval Base Coronado. “They looked everywhere for her. They couldn’t see her. The water was dark, and she’s dark.”
“She was just sitting there wagging her tail,” DeMunnik said. The staff called to Luna, and the blue-eyed pup happily trotted right over. A biologist examined Luna and found her a little thin, but otherwise healthy. “It looks like she was surviving on rodents and dead fish that had washed up,” DeMunnik said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Luna was flown from to a Navy base on the mainland and handed over to Haworth’s best friend.
While most would assume that the dog lost at sea for over a month would have no chance, Hayworth believed.
“He told us Luna was a very powerful swimmer and that he was 90 percent sure she’d head for shore,” said DeMunnik.
Luna did get a souvenir of her unbelievable journey, the Navy gave her a brand new dog tag, and she earned it.