They were the catch of the day.
A pair of frightened fishermen were dumped in the ocean when their boat flipped over in 8-foot swells off the coast of Puerto Rico on Saturday — and only saved in the nick of time.
Dramatic video from the US Coast Guard captured the moment the two soggy mariners — clinging to their sinking boat — were plucked to safety about 5 miles from Desecheo Island off Puerto Rico’s western shoreline.
The pair’s sinking fishing boat went down just 5 minutes after help arrived, the federal maritime agency said in a press release Sunday.
“Our crews worked together to conduct the rescue safely and efficiently with the best possible outcome,” Coast Guard aircraft commander Lt. David Tirado Tolosa said in a statement.
“Emergencies at sea can happen at any given moment,” Tolosa said. “We recommend all mariners wear their life jackets and carry a marine grade radio as these men did, in case they encounter an unexpected situation at sea.”
The Coast Guard received the distress alert around 4 p.m. about a disabled vessel in the ocean.
An MH-60 Jayhawk chopper was then dispatched from Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico to rush to the scene — arriving just before the boat sank at 5 p.m.
The footage shows a Coast Guard crew member jumping into the water and swimming out to the two men, who were then pulled onto the helicopter one at a time.
The two men were not injured, the Coast Guard said.
