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Candelaria Villanueva was one of 277 passengers aboard the Aloha ship that caught fire and sank off the Philippines in 1974

A Navy spokesman said that when the woman was spotted, rescuers believed she was clinging to an “oil drum” but it was actually a sea turtle

The woman reportedly clung to the turtle for two days before being rescued

Over half a century ago, a 52-year-old shipwreck victim clung to life using a sea turtle as a life raft.

Back in 1974, Candelaria Villanueva was one of 277 passengers aboard a ship that caught fire and sank off Zamboanga in the Sulu Sea, located 600 miles south of Manila, Philippines. As she struggled to survive in the water, a sea turtle swam up to her, which she climbed on top of, according to a 51-year-old report by the United Press I

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