Tropical cyclone is the catch-all term for the powerful, spinning storms that feed off warm oceans and the strength of which is determined by wind speeds. The strongest are known as hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Western Pacific and simply tropical cyclones in the South Pacific.

An Australian navy ship rescued a Lithuanian solo rower who encountered a tropical cyclone while attempting to cross the Pacific Ocean from California. Aurimas Mockus had been stranded for three days in the Coral Sea nearly 500 miles off the coast of Australia’s Queensland state.

Aurimas Mockus had been adrift for three days off the coast of Queensland after rowing nonstop from San Diego.