Several people rescued after a boat overturned off Mexico’s Baja California coast were treated for injuries believed to have been caused by shark bites, the US Coast Guard said.
Sixteen Mexican nationals were pulled from the water on Friday, while search teams continued looking for 11 others who were reported missing.
“Several of the individuals rescued were suffering from severe injuries consistent with shark bites, and the Coast Guard provided life-saving first aid while en route [to] San Diego,” the agency said in a statement released Saturday.
The US Coast Guard and Navy deployed aircraft and vessels to search for those still missing, with support from the Mexican Navy. The Coast Guard said another helicopter was expected to join the operation later Saturday.
Survivors told authorities that 27 people had been aboard the boat when it capsized.
“We were able to help, and that’s why we launched our assets,” Petty Officer Charlie Valor said Saturday.
Although the waters are popular with fishing and recreational boaters, the region has also seen deadly efforts to transport migrants from Mexico to the United States.
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The Mexican consulate in San Diego confirmed that everyone rescued was a Mexican national. The Coast Guard said Customs and Border Protection was interviewing the survivors as part of its investigation, though the agency did not immediately provide an update.
Survivors who witnessed a crime could potentially qualify for humanitarian parole, allowing them to remain in the United States for a limited time.
The ongoing search included helicopters, a fixed-wing aircraft, a Coast Guard cutter and a Navy combat ship.
Mayday call around 1 a.m.
According to Coast Guard Lt. Santiago Tamburini, someone aboard the vessel issued a mayday call at about 1 a.m. Friday. A rescue helicopter arrived roughly two hours later.
It took the crew, including a rescue swimmer, approximately 90 minutes to bring all 16 survivors out of the water, Tamburini said.
The vessel sank about 140 miles west of Ensenada, Mexico. The Coast Guard said the incident occurred outside US waters, in an area known to be used by smugglers.
The latest incident follows several migrant boat disasters off the California coast. In May 2025, at least three people died when a vessel overturned about 35 miles north of the US-Mexico border.
In 2023, eight people were killed in one of the deadliest maritime smuggling incidents off the US coast after two boats approached a San Diego beach in dense fog and one capsized in the surf.
