The Coast Guard came to the rescue just in the nick of time Sunday, helping three Louisiana boaters who were found stranded in the Atlantic Ocean “fending off sharks” as rescuers arrived.
The Coast Guard said in a statement that the three boaters were on a fishing trip that went awry when their 24-foot boat sank around 10 a.m. Saturday. Family members reported them missing but it took more than a day after they fell into the water for the Coast Guard to locate them.
The Coast Guard arrived Sunday afternoon with a helicopter and a boat. “The boatcrew arrived on scene and witnessed two of the boaters fending off sharks, along with injuries to both boater’s hands,” according to a Coast Guard statement. A social media post from the Coast Guard described the rescue coming “just in the nick of time.”
The three people, stranded 25 miles off Empire, La., were lucky to be wearing lifejackets and were pulled out of the water before being flown on the helicopter to the hospital in New Orleans, where they’re all alive with minor injuries, the Coast Guard said. Outside of one boater with hypothermia, no major injuries were reported.
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The sharks that were fended off turned out to be blacktips, which are not considered highly dangerous, according to the Coast Guard. According to American Oceans, blacktip sharks are considered “unintentionally dangerous,” with few reported fatalities.
“We searched an area roughly the size of Rhode Island and are thankful to have found these missing boaters,” Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Keefe, a Sector New Orleans Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator, said in the statement.
“If the family member had not notified the Coast Guard, and if these three boaters were not wearing life jackets, this could’ve been a completely different outcome.”
USA TODAY
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