He is retired but because of the work he did many are alive today. Here is a link to an article in the Aug 2024 BoatU.S. It is an incredible story that is worth reading.
The Drift Of Things
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The first link I put up didn’t work. I changed it to one that does work. Sorry about that.
Thank you for posting this link! A very worthwhile story to read!
Nice to see science and scientists highlighted for the great, and often selfless work they do, and to show how it relates to us in a very personal way.
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A true unsung American hero deserving of the presidential medal of freedom in my opinion. His contribution makes all of us safer at sea.
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There’s a special breed of pigeon roosting Florida’s citrus coast.
Each time a hurricane passes through in post-process they will boast,
"When the Coast Guard cut us years ago somethin’ innate to here drove,
us like a flock of weird snowbird with plan to rescue citrus groves.
So when Andrew came a cuttin’ through and cut loose all those monkeys,
we did not go ape-sit with primates amok but honed-in to the more funky.
And orange ya glad we’ve got an eye for prodigal produce route?
5,000 bushels rescued today of high sea salty fruit!"
Thanks for the educating link. And thank you Art Allen. (And since the Coast Guard doesn’t seem to need it, I don’t feel so bad about that wet-exit years ago - failed poler’s attainment along a “sticky” embankment through a strainer slot - whereupon I surrendered to the river gods my overly-optic-orange OR Nimbus Sombrero. I shall no longer fear irrational pigeons sneakin’ up from behind along with the deerflies.)
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Perhaps if they had trained the pigeons on images with orange PFDs with heads on them. I think it was a failure to think like a pigeon rather than just “winging” it with only orange. They just needed to use their heads. 
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The first person you should rely on to save your life is you. The second person to rely on is your paddling companion. Then the other people you paddle with.
If you need a Coast Guard rescue swimmer you made some bad decisions and really screwed up.
Don’t imperil other people to come looking for you.