SANDY HOOK -- U.S. Coast Guard crews and a fishing boat saved two people from shark-filled water Friday after their boat sank near Sandy Hook, the Coast Guard reported.
The First Coast Guard District command center in Boston got a distress alert at about 9:40 a.m. from a console boat 40 miles off the New Jersey shore.
An aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod went to the area of the distress signal and found two people in a life raft near an overturned boat and its debris.
A helicopter from Air Station Atlantic City arrived but could not send down a rescue swimmer because there were visible sharks in the water.
A civilian on a fishing boat nearby rescued the two boaters from the raft, and a Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook crew brought the people onto their motor lifeboat and back to Sandy Hook.
No one reported injuries in the incident, and the Coast Guard said it does not know why the boat sank.
Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati or on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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