Coast Guard swimmer Josh Law rescued 16 people from capsized boat off Mexico A 24-year-old Coast Guard rescue swimmer pulled 16 survivors from the Pacific Ocean after a boat capsized 140 miles off Mexico's Baja peninsula. Eleven others were never found and the search was called off. A U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Josh Law, 24, personally rescued 16 people from the Pacific Ocean after their boat capsized about 140 miles (225 kilometers) off Mexico's Baja California peninsula. Eleven others were never found, and the Coast Guard called off its search late Sunday. Strapped into a harness, Law was lowered from a Coast Guard helicopter into rough water in pitch black night. The force of the helicopter blades pummeled the water, whipping up spray and turbulence. Law could not hear anything over the noise or see anything in the darkness.Waves of 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters) hit him. All he could do was follow the helicopter searchlight with the hope it would lead him to the more than two dozen people flung into the cold waters. Law described the dramatic operation along a remote route frequented by migrant smuggling boats. Law spoke to The Associated Press in his first interview since the rescue.He said he was experiencing exhaustion but that what he felt was nothing compared to what the people in the water were facing. He said he had to keep that in mind. Over the next two hours in the predawn hours of Oct. 16, Law was the sole person in the water getting the people whose boat had capsized to safety.It was unclear if the vessel got lost, had engine failure, was swept out to sea or meant to go that far. Only pieces of the boat were found. All who were rescued are Mexican, the Mexican consulate said. The Coast Guard said U.S. Customs and Border Protection was investigating and interviewing the survivors, but the agency did not respond to multiple inquiries on whether the vessel was a migrant smuggling boat.Mayday call rouses coast guard crewThe mayday call came in around 1 a.m. Someone said their boat was sinking in the middle of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico. Within minutes, the alarm sounded at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Ventura, northwest of Los Angeles, rousing Law and his colleagues from their sleep. Helicopter pilot Lt. Miyako Miller checked flying conditions and planned the flight route for the crew of four over the ocean south of the U.S. border.Law prepared his dry suit, fins and medical items, then put on a harness that would be hooked onto a cable to lower him into the ocean. By 2 a.m., they were taking off from Ventura. Miller wore night vision goggles to help her fly in the dark. She said she relied on the stars, with no moonlight that night.As the crew approached the reported location of the sinking, Miller spotted a tiny flicker of light in the distance, then saw what looked like debris, though it was difficult to distinguish. Miller carefully navigated the helicopter over the area, lowering the aircraft until it hovered about 40 feet (12 meters) above the water.She said she did her best to maintain her references externally through the night vision goggles while the flight mechanic told her where to position the helicopter. Some 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of Ensenada is Guadalupe Island, a biosphere reserve well known as a place brimming with great white sharks. Law said he did not think about what was in the water as he hooked himself to a cable and zipped into the ocean in his harness.Rescuer battles hypothermic cold watersThere was no time to waste. While Law's dry suit provided some warmth, he knew the others had already spent hours in hypothermic temperature waters. Guided by the searchlight, he caught glimpses of people scattered across a wide area. Some wore life vests with tiny lights that produced the flicker Miller first spotted.Others clung to one another, buoys and pieces of wreckage, shivering and treading water to stay afloat. Law swam to them, flipped them on their backs, put his arm over them and pulled them using the buddy tow technique. Kicking his legs to swim, he carried them to a spot where he could signal the flight mechanic to lower a basket.With one hand he held the survivor, and with the other he signaled to the helicopter and worked with the device. He placed them into the basket one by one, and it was hoisted up repeatedly as the crew got each person into the aircraft before lowering the basket again. Law's dry suit slowly filled up to his knees with water, feeling like weights pulling on him as he swam.Crew treats shark bite injuries on flightOver the next 90 minutes, Law battled heavy waves while swimming back and forth. With a packed helicopter and dwindling fuel, the crew decided to head to the Coast Guard station in San Diego where ambulances were waiting. On the flight, Law treated three people with what he described as bad wounds, staunching the bleeding. Several of the injuries were consistent with shark bites, and the Coast Guard provided life-saving first aid, the agency said in a statement Saturday.Customs and Border Protection officers went to a hospital and said they would process the survivors according to immigration laws after they were medically cleared. Nearly half of those rescued have since been returned to Mexico, U.S. officials said. Law and his crew returned to Ventura that morning. It was by far the longest rescue operation he had ever done, he said.The search for the 11 others continued for another two days to no avail. The Coast Guard, alongside Mexico and the U.S. Navy, searched more than 2,441 square miles (6,322 square kilometers) for a combined 89 hours.