Four fishermen stranded at sea cling to chilly bin after boat capsizes off West Australia coast

One of four fishermen who became stranded at sea had a hilarious reaction after he realised they had left something behind on their capsized boat off the West Australian coast.

The fishermen sent out a distress call to police about 7.25am on Sunday after the boat they were in began to capsize about 300m off Garden Island.

Police were told the vessel was taking on water and had begun to sink.

About 15 minutes later, water police and marine rescue boats arrived on the scene.

By this point the four fishermen were already in the ocean, with the bow of the boat just visible above the water line.

Two of the men were found clinging to an Esky. Photo / WA Police

Bodycam footage taken by the rescuing officers shows the moment they arrive on the scene to find two men with lifejackets bobbing in the water.

The two men were helped on board the boat before the rescue team found the others.

“We’ve got two on-board and we’re en route within a few seconds to get the other two,” one of the officers can be heard saying.

Not long after, the two other men were found with their arms clinging to a massive green ice chest.

When the Esky was retrieved the men realised it was not the one they wanted to save. Photo / WA Police

The officers help them on board before fishing the chilly bin out of the water and lugging it onto the boat.

“The other esky has got beers in it,” one of the fisherman says, followed by a sigh.

“That one’s just ice and bloody bait.”

Marine rescue towed the sunken vessel back to shore.

None of the four rescued people were seriously injured, and it is believed they had spent about half an hour in the water.