A lone man reclines in a small, open boat adrift on a churning, deep blue sea, surrounded by circling sharks whose fins and open jaws break the surface in the foreground. He sits with his back against the gunwale, his body angled toward the viewer, legs stretched out and head turned to the right, gazing away from the immediate threat below. The boat is battered and dismasted, with broken spars, tangled ropes, and a torn sail lying beside the man, while the name 'Anna – Key West' is clearly painted on the stern.

The sea is rendered with thick, energetic brushstrokes, capturing the movement of rolling waves and the foam of breaking surf, while the water’s dark tones are streaked with flashes of green, blue, and white. To the right, a waterspout twists up from the sea, echoing the sense of danger and instability that fills the composition. Details such as the man’s bare feet, the scattered fishing gear, and the red dash of color near the waterline add to the realism and immediacy of the scene.

A three-masted sailing ship appears on the horizon at the left edge of the composition, faint and distant against the cloudy sky. The sunlight falls most strongly on the man’s torso and the upper surface of the boat, highlighting their forms against the darker water. The lower left corner is dominated by the shadowy, angular dorsal fins and open mouths of sharks, painted with sharp, defined lines.

Hints of orange and brown seaweed drift on the water’s surface, especially visible in the right and upper areas of the sea. The thick, swirling brushstrokes of the sky create a heavy, textured cloud cover that presses down over the turbulent ocean. The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that this painting entered its collection in 1906 through the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund. The composition’s dramatic contrasts, the swirling brushwork of the sea, and the meticulous attention to the boat and figure all contribute to a vivid sense of tension and isolation.