The storm that struck during the second month was the most destructive single event of his ordeal, though its specific timing is uncertain across the various accounts. The storm destroyed or contaminated much of what he had accumulated: his dried fish stock, his collected fresh water. The rebuilding after the storm — returning to the patient work of catching and drying and collecting — was a second beginning, a recommitment to the survival system that the storm had disrupted.
After the storm, the bird-hunting became more central. The blood drew sharks. The sharks became an additional resource.
## The Sharks
The killing of a shark by a man on a small wooden raft with improvised tools is the element of Poon Lim’s survival story that is most easily sensationalized, and the prompt specifications for this article require careful treatment. What can be said, on the basis of the testimony incorporated into multiple sources, is that Poon Lim did kill at least one shark during his time on the raft, that he used the blood as a source of liquid, and that he ate the meat and dried the fins.
The method he used, as described in the accounts: he used the blood from birds and fish to attract smaller sharks to the raft’s vicinity, then used bird flesh as bait to lure one close enough to hook with the large nail hook. He hauled the hooked shark onto the raft — a task requiring significant physical strength and the right technique to avoid the thrashing animal’s teeth — and killed it. The water container served as the killing instrument. He had wrapped canvas around his hands for protection.