Three fishermen were stranded for 28 hours in shark-infested waters on the Gulf of Mexico, off the Louisiana Coast after their boat capsized over the weekend. During the ordeal that took more than a day, two of the anglers fought off sharks that kept attacking them. The other angler used his phone to find a signal and sent their location, which led to their eventual rescue with no fatalities reported.
Louisiana Coast Stranded Fishermen
The three men named Phong Le, Luan Nguyen, and Son Nguyen were stranded and floating in the water since 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 8, until the sharks showed up on Sunday morning, October 9. One shark bit the life vest of Luan.
The fishermen used an improvised float in order to survive the waters off Louisiana coast after their boat sank due to unknown circumstances. One of the fishermen punched the face and jabbed the eyes of the shark in order to scare it away.
Phong told ABC News on Tuesday, October 11, that he was able to capture a cellphone signal and sent their Google map location to his friend just before his mobile phone battery died. Phong also needed to swim a distance of at least half a mile or a mile in order to retrieve a signal.
Meanwhile, Son also told the US media agency he also received injuries on his hand from shark bites after his life jacket was torn apart.
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U.S. Coast Guard Rescue
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued the stranded fishermen and were flew back home on Tuesday. Upon arrival, the rescuers noticed that four blacktip sharks, about 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters) long, were circling and harassing the two men even if they were pulled from the water, according to Andrew Stone, a Coast Guard seaman.
During an interview with other Coast Guard members, Stone told The Associated Press the anglers were too tired to panic. Coast Guard helicopter co-pilot named Lt. Katy Caraway reportedly said the fishermen's will to survive and their lifejackets is what saved them from the situation.
All of the boaters were sent to a hospital in New Orleans for medical treatment. Phong was already suffering from hypothermia when the Coast Guard found him. In addition, helicopter rescue swimmer Richard Hoefle stated the other two boaters had deep cuts on their hands, with one missing the trip of a middle finger.
Prior to their rescue, one of the fisherman's wife reported them missing around 10 p.m. on Saturday, according to Lieutenant Commander Kevin Keefe, the rescue coordinator for Sector New Orleans, as cited by Sky News.
Related Case
In a similar case, a Chinese sailor was rescued after being stranded in sharky waters off the west coast of Australia back in July, according to NDTV.
The sailor reportedly fell from a cargo ship and endured a long night floating in the Indian Ocean and in a part of Australia's west coast with a large shark population, which had a record of attacking swimmers and surfers in the past.
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