WATCH: Swarm Of Love Bugs Take Over Couple's Fishing Boat

SARASOTA, Fla. (CBS Local) — A swarm of love bugs overwhelmed a Florida couple out for a day of fishing last week and video has gone viral on social media.

Dana Erickson said she and her husband were on their white 21-foot Aqua Sport boat with their friends on May 8 when they were suddenly and unexpectedly invaded by love bugs.

"We weren't even thinking about (the love bugs)," Erickson told WFTS as the boat sat three miles outside of Lido Key Beach in Sarasota on Silvertooth Reef.

In a video posted to Erickson's Facebook page, shared more than 47,000 times, the harmless bugs are seen flying all over the boat, Erickson, her husband (in blue) and their friends.

(Credit: Dana Hayes Erickson)

Erickson said they tried to go fast on their boat to try to get the love bugs off of it, but that didn't work. At one point, she said she jumped into the water to try to get the critters off of her.

"They were going in my bathing suit," Erickson said. "If you touch them, they smush. I've been down here 20 years and I've never seen anything like that ever."

Eventually, they were forced to call it a day.

"We had only been out there for about 30 minutes," Erickson said. "We had to leave because we couldn't fish. I was only able to catch two little red snappers and that annoyed me."

Erickson said it took her and her husband and a power washer two hours to get the bugs off their boat.