Tom Hanks has been in many great movies. One of my favorites is Cast Away where he plays the survivor of a plane crash, living on a deserted island for four years.

Recently a dog became a real life canine castaway when she was lost at sea and was found 5 weeks later on an island 70 miles off the coast of San Diego.

Luna, a 1.5 year old German shepherd was with her owner Nick Haworth as he worked a fishing boat 2 miles from San Clemente Island. Luna fell overboard and “was presumed drowned“, according to Mashable. However, Haworth believed that Luna made it to the island.

San Clemente is a Navy training base. Haworth “contacted Navy personnel” and said he was 90% sure Luna made it to shore since she was such a strong swimmer.

According to Mashable, “Haworth searched the waters for about two days and Navy staff searched the island for about a week but found no sign of Luna“.

Five weeks later staff arrived at work on the island and spotted a dog sitting by the side of the road. This was odd since domestic animals are prohibited from being on the island for environmental reasons.

The dog was examined and was in good health besides being a bit on the thin side. They figured that Luna survived by eating rodents and dead fish washing ashore.

A few days back Luna was flown to a Navy base to be reunited but Haworth is out of state working. Luckily his best friend helped out and is looking after the brave dog for the time being.

Find out more from Mashable here.