A 26-year-old surfer in California narrowly avoided disaster by clinging to a lobster trap buoy after he was swept out into the ocean.
The man and his friend were surfing near Haskell's Beach in Goleta when he was ripped from his board and pulled out into the deep water.
When his surfboard washed up on shore without him, his friend immediately called 911 and reported him missing, the Los Angeles Times reports.
A Santa Barbara County Fire Department rescue crew arrived at the beach around 6:28 pm and used aerial drones to scan the surrounding waters for signs of the surfer. One of the drones caught a glimpse of the man approximately a quarter-mile offshore, according to the fire department.
The drone video captured the man clinging to a buoy attached to a lobster trap, which stopped the strong ocean current from pulling him even deeper into the ocean.
Two members of the rescue crew entered the water and managed to pull the surfer safely back to shore. He was given a medical exam on shore, but further treatment was deemed unnecessary, according to local officials.
The fire department credited its drones, its rescuers, and the surfer's quick-thinking friend with saving the man's life.
“Never go into the ocean alone — especially in rough conditions,” the fire department wrote in a post on X. “[Having someone with you] can save lives.”
Thankfully for the surfer, the Haskell's Beach area is a relatively popular spot for lobster trappers to leave their equipment. According to local Santa Barbara news outlet NoozHawk, the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Watershed Brigade counted 44 lobster traps between Haskell's Beach and Ellwood Beach in 2021.
Strong ocean currents off the coast of California can be extremely dangerous, and swimmers are regularly encouraged to monitor conditions before approaching the beaches in certain parts of the state.
Between 2016 and 2023, there were a reported 3,631 fatal, unintentional drownings in California, according to the state's Public Health Department.
In November, a member of the U.S. Army, as well as a father and his 7-year-old daughter visiting from Canada, were swept out to sea within a week of each other at Garrapata State Park in Monterey County. The father and daughter were confirmed dead, and the soldier was never found.
