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"It
ain't over till it's over."
Lawrence
Peter "Yogi" Berra
(National Baseball Hall of Fame)
who
also said:
"The future ain't what it used to be."
 HONOLULU, HI (USA)
— Only the convoluted words of baseball great
Yogi Berra could come close to describing such a pleasant paradox as
what we've witnessed today. After 19 days alone on a drifting
tanker—over a month after the tanker was left without power and
communications and hundreds of miles from Hawaii—an indestructible,
little white mutt has been rescued from her plight at sea.
"It is nothing short of a miracle that Forgea was discovered
and found alive," said Martha Armstrong, vice president of the Humane
Society of the United States, the organization which jointly
funded and coordinated rescue efforts with the Hawaiian
Humane Society and American Marine Corporation.
Yesterday, the crew of a fishing boat under the direction of
rescuers located the burned-out hull of the Insiko 1907,
boarded her and found the pooch alive and well, though in an extreme
state of agitation.
"They were trying to calm her down," said Ms. Armstrong.
"She's been without company for 19 days, with several flyovers,
she's probably really excited."
In years to come, the dog "Forgea" will probably be remembered for surviving
some of the worst odds in history.
...not unlike the NY Mets in '69, which Mr. Berra creatively
referred to as "overwhelming underdogs."
RESCUE #1 (Apr. 2)
"I made a wrong mistake."
(Yogi Berra)
 The
two-year-old terrier mix came close to being rescued with the rest of
the surviving Insiko crew on April 2 when the cruise ship Norwegian
Star found the derelict tanker 20 days after the Insiko
engine room fire that killed one crewman, injured another and left the
ship without power or communications.
But according to the Insiko Captain Chung Chin Po, the
dog was not allowed aboard the rescuers' vessel. Captain Po left
some remaining rice and fish rations for Forgea and bid her farewell.
RESCUE #2 (Apr. 6)
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up
somewhere else."
(Yogi Berra)
 A
second rescue attempt was made, this time with the sole purpose of
saving the abandoned pooch. The Hawaiian Humane Society (HHS)
initiated a bold operation (at an estimated cost of $50,000 US) in
which the rescue boat American Quest spent five days searching
over 14,000 square miles of ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard provided
crucial information as to the projected location of the lost ship;
however, estimates did not account for the tanker drifting several
hundred miles to the west.
After days with no contact made, it was assumed that the Insiko
had sunk with the dog aboard, and
the American Quest was recalled to port.
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RESCUE #3 (Apr. 12-20)
"Pair up in threes."
(Yogi Berra)
A Japanese fishing boat, the Victoria City, reported contact
with "a darkened ship with no lights that
appeared to be adrift" on April 12. Although at this point hope
for Forgea was viturally nonexistant—her food and water assumed to have
been depleted long before—the HHS and American Marine continued to
coordinate rescue efforts with fishing boats in the area. Meanwhile, the
Coast Guard was alerted that the drifting Insiko could possibly pose an
ecological threat to nearby Johnston Island, a wildlife preserve.
According to one report, the Coast Guard had not made an effort to track
down the Insiko earlier because it was in international
waters. But on April 20, the Coast Guard sent a C-130 search and rescue
plane to assess the potential of an environmental threat from the deserted
oil tanker. Coast Guard crews reported the
unbelievable: a small, white dog was running around on deck.
Before returning to base, the C-130 crew collected the pizza and
granola bars they had on board, put them in an empty sonar buoy and
lowered it onto the Insiko deck.
RESCUE #4 (Apr. 21)
"This is like deja vu all over again."
(Yogi Berra)
Sunday at 10:30am (HST), a fishing boat that wishes to remain anonymous
reached the Insiko, boarded the vessel and found the terrified
terrier. The crew of the fishing boat plans on returning to Honolulu
with Forgea where the dog will come under the care of the HHS (Captain
Chung Chin Po was required to leave Hawaii on Apr. 6).
Humane Society President Pamela Burns said, "We have been showered
with support for our efforts to find Forgea. All of us are very grateful
to the crews of these fishing boats for their search efforts. It is clear
to us that the vast majority of people support efforts to rescue Forgea
– with their good wishes and donations. The expressions of compassion
from around the world for this little dog show how united people are in
their love of animals."
Forgea could add no comment, but I'm sure she would've liked to quote
Yogi Berra one last time:
"I
want to thank you for making this day necessary."
Editor's note (Apr. 23): Far be it from us to
drag this six-part drama any longer than necessary, but this morning we
received word from the HHS:
"I
love your site about Forgea the dog. Very clever. And sooooo true because
it really ISN'T over yet. Please revise your last paragraph to reflect the
latest news:
YES they located the Insiko.
YES they boarded the tanker and coaxed the dog.
NO she didn't fall for it.
She is being elusive, but we have no doubt that she will be rescued soon.
Thanks
for doing a good job. KT"
Our apologies! In our exuberance, we all
may have forgotten that the drifting tanker is still a 256-foot maze of
tunnels and compartments in which a 40lb. dog can easily hide.
As Yogi Berra once said, "It's pretty far, but it doesn't seem like
it."
Be sure to check the Hawaiian Humane Society
website for the latest news: click
here.
UPDATE (Apr. 27): Forgea
Rescued!
(We really mean it this time)
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