It's a story that almost defies belief: a man leaves Mexico in December 2012 for a day of shark fishing and ends up surviving for 13 months on fish, birds and turtles before washing ashore on the remote Marshall Islands some 5,500 miles (8,800km) away.  But that's the story a man identifying himself as 37-year-old José Salvador Alvarenga told the US ambassador in the Marshall Islands and the nation's officials during a 30-minute meeting on Monday before he was taken to a hospital for monitoring.  Alvarenga washed ashore on the tiny Ebon atoll in the Pacific Ocean last week before being taken to the capital, Majuro, on Monday.  "It's hard for me to imagine someone surviving 13 months at sea," said ambassador Tom Armbruster in Majuro. "But it's also hard to imagine how someone might arrive on Ebon out of the blue. Certainly this guy has had an ordeal, and has been at sea for some time."  Other officials were reacting cautiously to the Spanish-speaking man's story while they tried to gather more information. If true, the man's ordeal would rank among the greatest tales ever of survival at sea.  Armbruster said the softly spoken man complained of joint pain on Monday and had a limp but was able to walk. He had long hair and a beard, the ambassador said, and rather than appearing emaciated he looked puffy in places, including around his ankles. Otherwise, Alvarenga seemed in reasonable health.  Armbruster, who speaks Spanish, said the survivor told officials he was from El Salvador but had lived in Mexico for 15 years and fished for a man he knows as Willie, catching sharks for 25 pesos (£1.15) per pound.  On 21 December 2012, Alvarenga left Mexico in his seven-metre (23ft) fibreglass boat for a day's fishing, accompanied by a teenager he knew only as Ezekiel, who was between 15 and 18. A storm blew the fishermen off course, and soon they were lost and adrift.  "He talked about scooping up little fish that swam alongside the boat and eating them raw," Armbruster said. "He also said he ate birds, and drank birds' blood." He also talked about eating turtles.  After about a month, Ezekiel died, the survivor told officials.  Once near Ebon, he swam ashore.  "He thanked God, initially, that he had survived," the ambassador said. "He's very anxious to get back in touch with his employer, and also with the family of Ezekiel. That's his driving motivation at the moment."  Armbruster said the man told officials he had no family in Mexico but he had three brothers who live in the US, although he could not immediately provide contact details.  Gee Bing, the acting secretary of foreign affairs for the Marshall Islands, said he was somewhat sceptical of Alvarenga's account after meeting him on Monday.  "It does sound like an incredible story and I'm not sure if I believe his story," Bing said. "When we saw him, he was not really thin compared to other survivors in the past. I may have some doubts. Once we start communicating with where he's from, we'll be able to find out more information."  Bing said the man had no identification with him and other details of his story remained sketchy, including the exact location of his departure from Mexico.  The survivor's vital signs appeared to be good, though his blood pressure was a bit low, Bing said.  After doctors give him the all-clear, officials hope to repatriate him to Mexico or whichever country is appropriate. Bing said the Mexican ambassador in the Philippines, Julio Camarena, had been involved in the case. He could not be contacted immediately.  Erik van Sebille, a Sydney-based oceanographer at the University of New South Wales, said there was a good chance that a boat drifting off Mexico's west coast would eventually be carried by currents to the Marshall Islands. He said such a journey would typically take 18 months to two years depending on the winds and currents, although 13 months was possible.  "The way that the currents in the Pacific work is that there is a very strong westerly current just north of the equator and that basically drives you directly from Mexico all the way toward Indonesia and in the path, you go right over the Marshall Islands," he said.  There have been other cases of people surviving for months adrift in the Pacific. In a similar incident, three Mexican shark fishermen said they were lost at sea for nine months before being rescued near the Marshall Islands in 2006. In 1989, four men survived nearly four months in the Pacific Ocean near New Zealand after their multi-hulled boat capsized.
José Salvador Alvarenga tells Marshall Islanders of being blown off course during storm and washing up on atoll 13 months later