A man who willingly walked into the surf in a Freeland neighborhood on Friday drew plenty of attention from a handful of neighbors and emergency responders.

Around noon, an unidentified man strolled into the chilly waters of Mutiny Bay near Mutiny Shores. A few people witnessed the man go in fully clothed and called emergency responders.

“Their concern was that he was going into the water and said he wasn’t going out,” said Mike Cotton, a deputy chief with South Whidbey Fire/EMS.

An Island County Sheriff’s Office deputy negotiated with the man, while he was in the water, and got him to come out. One of the stipulations was that the deputy remain seated and that other emergency responders from Whidbey General EMS and South Whidbey Fire/EMS stay far away. They spoke for several minutes, with the officer reportedly attempting to call the man’s mother, and offering his cell phone to the man to also make calls.

After about 20 minutes of talking, the man agreed to be driven by the deputy to his mother’s house. The deputy appeared to remain calm and did not touch the man. The Virginia-based Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit that specializes in mental health treatment, advises a list of dos and don’ts that includes tips to never touch, stare at, stand over, threaten or argue with someone in a mental health crisis.

How long the man was in the water was not known. Cotton said the man was up to his chest when they were speaking, but could not say how much time he spent submerged. His condition was also unknown after he emerged from the water, but he was walking and talking.

Average water temperature of Puget Sound is 45 degrees, and The Scientific American reported after a plane crash landed in the Hudson River in New York in 2009 that a person can survive for between 10 and 20 minutes before muscles weaken and coordination is lost.

“I’m happy he’s out of the water,” Cotton said.