A man who spent nearly 24 hours at sea in New Zealand alerted his rescuers by using his watch to reflect the sun. Police said it was an "absolute miracle" the man who has not been named is alive after he fell overboard from his 40-foot (12-metre) boat while on a solo fishing trip. He said the boat overturned after he hooked a suspected marlin fish. The man endured a cold night in the ocean, and even came face to face with a shark who had come to "have a sniff", police said. He had attempted to swim 55km to the Alderman Islands off the northeast of New Zealand, but quickly became exhausted and kept getting dragged further away by currents. The man was eventually rescued after three fishermen noticed an unusual reflection on the water. They discovered it was the man desperately trying to get their attention using the reflection of the sun on his watch. "It is an absolute miracle the fisherman is still alive after the ordeal. Without the quick actions of the three gentlemen that retrieved him, this certainly would have had a tragic outcome," police said. The man was swiftly taken to Whangamata Marina, where he was treated for hypothermia and exhaustion.