PORT CLINTON, Ohio (NewsNation Now) — Coast Guard authorities say rescue crews were dispatched to 18 people stranded on an ice floe that broke away in Lake Erie near Catawba Island, Ohio.

Rescue efforts began about 1 p.m., according to a statement from the Coast Guard.

Officials said on social media that an airboat from the Marblehead station and a helicopter from Air Station Detroit were dispatched after the ice floe broke away.

Several of the people stranded were on snowmobiles and several ATVs were looking for a route back to land, according to a U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes tweet and statement.

According to the Coast Guard, the helicopter lowered its rescue swimmer and began hoisting operations while Station Marblehead’s airboat got underway.

The helicopter hoisted seven people from the floe, four others were rescued by the Coast Guard airboat, and the remaining seven were rescued and transported to shore by a good Samaritan who also had an airboat on the scene, the Coast Guard said.

Emergency medical services were standing by but there were no reports of anyone requiring medical attention.

Dustin Shaffer, a pilot and co-owner of Island Air Taxi, said he saw the people stranded in the middle of the ice while he was flying and alerted the Coast Guard.

Shaffer said he’s always watching the ice, which is how he saw the cracks on it happen Sunday.

“I fly back and forth to the islands 30-40 times a day, so I’m always watching the ice, watching these guys who are out ice fishing with their snowmobiles. I watched the cracks happen, and a lot of times they don’t know that they’re there. The Coast Guard happened to be at Port Clinton when I was landing, so I told them what had happened.”

“It happens probably once a year,” he told NewsNation. “It’s not uncommon. I give ice reports to people as much as I can.”

The National Weather Service had issued a warning to stay off the ice because there was a strong possibility of it breaking off and drifting toward Canada.

Shaffer said people should always heed these warnings.

“(Even if) it seems safe when you step out there, and it feels like solid ice— that’s not always solid,” Shaffer said. “The current underneath could’ve eaten it away.”

While 92% of the lake is covered in ice, large cracks can be seen in satellite images, according to reports.

“There’s no such thing as safe ice, but people can mitigate their risks,” said Lt. j.g. Jeremiah Schiessel, from Coast Guard Sector Detroit. “Always be sure to tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to be back. Great Lakes ice is unpredictable, and conditions can change fast.”

Last week, crews from the two stations were also called in to aid volunteer firefighters in rescuing seven people from another floe west of the peninsula jutting out into the Great Lake, according to WJW.

In January, 27 people were rescued from a floating chunk of ice that broke away from the shoreline in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

(Video credit: Island Air Taxi- Dustin Shaffer)

NewsNation affiliate WJW and the Associated Press contributed to this report.