A canine castaway lost at sea five months ago has been reunited with her owners after washing up on an island off the central Queensland coast and living off goats and koalas.



Jan and Dave Griffith were devastated when their Australian cattle dog, Sophie Tucker, fell overboard in choppy waters off Mackay in late November, while the trio were on a boat trip to Scawfeld Island.

Amazing tale ... salty seadog Sophie Tucker.

"We hit a rough patch and when we turned around the dog was gone," Ms Griffith said.

"We were able to back track to look for her, but because it was a grey day, we just couldn't find her and we searched for well over an hour.