A barn owl stranded some 70 nautical miles out to sea was rescued by an astonished British Army sailing crew competing in a gruelling race around Britain and Ireland.
A British Army sailing crew competing in one of yachting's most demanding races found themselves coming to the rescue of a bedraggled barn owl 70 nautical miles from shore when the exhausted creature made a determined bid to join their team.
The bird's arrival aboard Fujitsu British Soldier during the 50th Anniversary RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race sparked a complex coordination effort between the military sailors and multiple wildlife agencies – all while the crew pressed on toward the finish line at Cowes.
"We have an extra crew member for the latter parts of the race: an exhausted barn owl that we are nursing back to health," skipper Will Naylor reported to race officials.
He dryly noted that finishing the race with their original complement could prove awkward.
"Someone is going to have to walk the plank," he joked.
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The owl's boarding proved less than graceful. After failing to land on a crew member's head and tumbling from the mast into the sea three times, the bird finally collapsed onto the deck, where sailors secured it with a towel.
"We thought we'd lost her, but she kept fighting her way back up and to the boat," said Sergeant Mark Petherbridge of 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment. The crew christened their passenger "Little Reg", before discovering that "Little Regina" would be a better fit for their stowaway.
The rescue operation involved the Barn Owl Trust, Marine and Wildlife Rescue and Caister Independent Lifeboat, which collected the bird for transfer to a wildlife centre while the Army Sailing Association crew continued their 1,805-nautical-mile circumnavigation.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
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