But when the two 16-year-olds realized that a strong undertow had swept them out nearly a mile to sea, they weren’t interested in any kind of animal viewing.
The girls were scared for their life.
And with the water being just barely above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, they couldn’t last long in the frigid waters.
Luckily for them, two fishermen happened to be passing by where the girls had been swept out.
When Michael Arujo and Bill Weilbacher saw the girls swimming in the water from far away, they initially thought that they were looking at a couple of sea otters.
“Thank God we were there because there was nobody behind us, and there was no boats coming out. It would have took about at least half an hour to get there, and in that water, you can’t last 10 minutes.”
The two fishermen helped the girls into the boat and when they were finally on board, they held onto each, just shivering.
The fishermen couldn’t have come at a better time and the girls were extremely lucky that they happened to be fishing in the area.
Weilbacher said this:
“I mean, neither one of them could stand up when they got on the boat, and you know, the one young lady said she couldn’t feel her legs. So, everything worked out as well as it possibly could have, and the stars really aligned for them, and for us, quite honestly. It was just a wonderful experience.”
The girls received any help they needed once they were taken back to shore.