He took one photo from a distance, he flew to the island for help, he taxied to the airport office, found no one there, got back in the aircraft, taxied back to the runway, (or ran both ways, who knows?) then took off down the runway and flew back to the scene, where he took the next photograph of the aircraft already party sumberged and the people had drifted away a considerable distance. They were hard enough to spot from the air, that the first crews over, had to drop flares.
Keep in mind, too, that the wingspan of the aircraft is 52’. The folks floating, from above, are maybe 2’ x 2’. So 1/26th the width of the wingspan. They aren’t going to be very big on this picture.
Makes sense.