When the Sea Bites Back

They were three friends, out for a morning’s fishing on the Gulf of America seeking red snapper out by the oil rigs. Then their boat sank. Suddenly they were on the ocean’s surface, dependent on their life jackets and two plastic coolers to keep them afloat.

In Deep Water: A True Story of Sharks, Survival, and Courage, by Michael J. Tougias, follows what happened. It tells of the men’s survival efforts and the US Coast Guard rescue mission that set out after they were reported missing.

Paul Le was an avid fisherman. Living in New Orleans, he started on Lake Pontchartrain, then began fishing on the Gulf. Eventually he wanted to get big fish, especially snapper. He bought a boat big enough for deep water and invited longtime friends Sonny and Lu to join him on this fishing expedition.

Then disaster struck. Traveling from one oil rig to another, the boat began taking on water. Before they could send a Mayday, it had sunk. They had time to grab their life vests, two coolers (which floated), some drinking water and oranges. No one knew where they were. Friends and family knew they were on the Gulf, but not when they would return. No alarm was raised until evening, when a US Coast Guard search was implemented. The three spent 28 hours floating in the Gulf water.

Tougias follows two tracks in this book. He describes the ordeal faced by the three men in the water. He pairs this with an account of the Coast Guard search and rescue effort.

The men in the water faced multiple threats. Hypothermia, exhaustion, and dehydration were personal physical threats. Even warm Gulf water sucked heat out of the men. They had an inadequate supply of drinking water and spent their energy on unsuccessful attempts to reach oil platforms or boats. There were environmental threats, too. Jellyfish stung them, leaving painful welts. Near the end of the ordeal, their weakened state attracted attention from sharks.

Tougias also describes search efforts. He explains the tools the Coast Guard had and how they used them. He tells of the men and women on the rescue boats, helicopters and aircraft. We learn of their training and experiences. He also discusses the difficulty of finding a floating man without a boat. The result is a gripping account.

In Deep Water offers a fast-paced real-life adventure, with a climax that reads like fiction but which actually occurred.

“In Deep Water: A True Story of Sharks, Survival, and Courage,” by Michael J. Tougias, St. Martin's Press, June 2026, 304 pages, $29.00 (Hardcover), $14.99 (E-book), $17.24 (Audiobook)

This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.