Authorities say a 70-year-old south Mississippi man who had gone fishing didn’t realize a search and rescue mission was under way for him in the Pearl River.

People on shore cheered Tuesday morning when Walter Acker of Pearlington sailed up while divers were searching the waters for him. He was not hurt.

Acker had been gone 5 1/2 hours, and friends feared he had fallen in the water.

Divers from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, the Bayside Park Volunteer Fire Department and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Department from Louisiana had been involved in the search.