When the engine of their 89-year-old tuna boat exploded about 60 miles off the Oregon coast, owners Mark and Cynthia Schneider had no choice but to jump into the water and leave behind their two cats on their sinking vessel.
“I went up and said, ‘We’re sinking,’ ” Mark told The World newspaper. “Cynthia said, ‘I know.’ I said I couldn’t leave the kitties, but she told me to get into my suit. She told me they would follow their instincts and finally had to yell at me to get off the boat.”
After the couple was rescued by a nearby boat, they were stunned when they looked out at their quickly sinking boat and saw one of the cats — a tabby named Jasper — on the bow, the few feet of which was all that was left protruding from the water.
Then they learned that cats can swim — when they have to.
