3 Boaters Rescued by Coast Guard While Fighting Off Sharks

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three boaters who were stranded approximately 25 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

According to a release from the Coast Guard, the boaters left for a fishing trip on Saturday but never returned. After concerns over the boaters' whereabouts began to mount, authorities began a wide-spanning search off the Louisiana coast.

Upon their discovery of the missing boaters, the U.S. Coast Guard noted that two of the three boaters had injuries on their hands.

"In the nick of time"

The U.S. Coast Guard says the three overdue boaters were "rescued just in the nick of time" as they were found near Venice after being trapped in shark-infested waters.

A concerned family member

According to their press release, the U.S. Coast Guard was contacted by a family member after the boaters were reported overdue Saturday evening.

The family member was concerned that the boaters had not returned from a fishing trip they departed for on Saturday morning.

Stranded on the water

The boaters became stranded around 10 a.m. Saturday morning when their boat reportedly sank. At that point, they lost all communication.

Bigger than Rhode Island

The U.S. Coast Guard Station Venice had assistance from the Corpus Christi Air Station in their search of an area spanning 1,250 miles (larger than the entire state of Rhode Island) and were able to locate the boaters.

With further assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, they were able to hoist the boaters to safety and transfer them to University Medical Center in New Orleans.

Fighting off sharks

Two of the three boaters were fending off sharks as the Coast Guard located them.

There were injuries on their hands as rescuers hoisted them to safety.

Lucky to be alive

After spending roughly 24 hours in shark-infested waters, the boaters were very lucky to be rescued alive.

A dramatic video uploaded by NOLA.com shows the rescue in shark-infested waters.

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