Rescue crews safely extracted three stranded boaters 25 miles off the Louisiana coast Sunday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).
A family member originally informed officials that the boaters had not returned from a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico as expected on Saturday evening, according to a USCG 8th District Heartland press release.
The crew aboard a HC-144 aircraft from USCG Air Station Corpus Christi eventually located the three boaters after a search that spanned around 1,250 square miles, the USCG wrote in the statement. Their 24-foot center console boat reportedly sank Saturday morning, leaving the boaters stranded.
NBC reporter Sam Brock said the three boaters fought off “a swarm of sharks” amid their rescue after 28 hours drifting at sea, according to TODAY.
Just in the nick of time, @USCG crews rescued 3 overdue boaters while they were fending off sharks and had spent over 24 hours in the water. Several air and boat crews searched an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. https://t.co/2eacJmtkXt pic.twitter.com/YrjJijQqiA
— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) October 10, 2022
The crew of a 45-foot Response-Boat Medium boat out of USCG Station Venice extracted two of the boaters who had suffered hand injuries from the shark encounter, according to the USCG statement. (RELATED: Stunning Footage Possibly Links Orcas To Great White Shark Disappearances Off South African Coast)
A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from USCG Air Station New Orleans hoisted the third boater from the water, the USCG wrote in the statement. The three boaters eventually arrived at University Medical Center New Orleans where their condition was reported as stable.
Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Keefe, Sector New Orleans Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator, highlighted the possibility of “a completely different outcome” had “the family member not notified the Coast Guard,” according to the USCG.
Hurricane Ian recently brought a shark to a flooded Florida street while the summer of 2022 saw a surprising shark encounter off the New Jersey coast and a rise in shark sightings off Cape Cod.