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On August 26, the U.S. Coastguard came across a Florida man in the middle of the ocean, not inside a boat, ship, or cruise, but instead trying to cross the Atlantic in a human-sized hamster wheel. The man, identified as Reza Baluchi, was arrested after a four-day stand-off with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Netizens were stunned when the bizarre news broke but were not surprised after knowing the man was from Florida. Netizens could not hold in their laughter and amusement at the whole ordeal. One X (formerly Twitter) user commented on @JoshMankiewicz's tweet on the incident:
Netizens are very much amused by Florida hamster-wheel man
Reza Baluchi's story made netizens burst out with laughter. People wanted to know why what he did was illegal and what charges he was booked with. A few users were not surprised as the man was from Florida, but some said this was bizarre even by Florida man standards. @JoshMankiewicz tweeted:
"Florida man arrested for trying to cross Atlantic in human-powered hamster wheel. Yes -you read that correctly."
Here are some of the comments under @JoshMankiewicz's tweet about the incident:
Reza Baluchi's wild ocean stand-off
The incident occurred on August 26, when the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter VALIANT, transiting in the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for Hurricane Franklin, spotted a peculiar "Hydro Pod vessel" around 70 nautical miles east of Tybee Island, Georgia. The Hydro Pod housed one man, who went by the name of Baluchi.
The Coast Guard proceeded to ask the man for his vessel's registration, to which Baluchi replied that his vessel had a Florida registration on board but could not locate it. He also informed officers that he was headed to London. This led the Coast Guard to conclude:
"Based on the condition of the Vessel—which was afloat as a result of wiring and buoys—USCG officers determined BALUCHI was conducting a manifestly unsafe voyage."
This resulted in Coast Guard officers approaching the man in a small boat. However, Baluchi threatened to kill himself with a knife if officers tried to remove him from his vessel, which led the officers to return to Cutter VALIANT.
Further removal attempts by the Coast Guard the next day led to more suicide threats from Baluchi, who, this time, held wires in his hands and threatened to blow up the vessel.
One more day passed, and USCG Cutter CAMPBELL arrived on the scene and used a small boat to remove the man from the vessel. He again persisted, although informing the Coast Guard that his earlier bomb threat was fake. The next day, on August 29, Baluchi was successfully removed from the vessel by the USCG Cutter CAMPBELL's small boat. Baluchi was brought ashore on September 1, 2023.
It was also revealed that this was not 44-year-old Reza Baluchi's first time being intercepted by the Coast Guard. He had been arrested for similar homemade vessel voyages in 2014, 2016, and 2021. This time, Baluchi was charged with violating two United States Code Titles, Obstruction of Boarding and Violation of the Captain of the Port Order.
