Surfer Found Clinging To Lobster Trap 500 Metres Out To Sea
The 26-year-old was night surfing in Santa Barbara before needing rescue.
You gotta cling to what keeps you alive. For this surfer, that thing was the buoy of a lobster trap.
A few nights ago, two friends went night surfing at Haskell’s Beach, Santa Barbara. Only one made it back. The other was reported lost at sea by the friend who managed to make it in and immediately alerted authorities. Surfline reported the conditions as “pumping through sundown.”
Before the rescue mission even started, the man’s board washed ashore. An ominous sign, to say the least. A rescue crew from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department deployed aerial drones to scan the water. It wasn’t long before they spotted him, about 500 metres offshore, bobbing along, clinging to the buoy of a cray pot.
Two officers from the department’s water rescue team picked him up and got him back to land. No medical attention was needed.
Lobster traps aren’t illegal in Santa Barbara, but they’re regulated. Commercial traps require permits and tagged gear, while recreational lobster harvesting is limited to hand-capture or hoop nets. Traps for recreational use are Illegal, however.
A 2021 survey by the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Watershed Brigade counted 44 lobster traps around Haskell’s Beach. They continue to remove derelict traps, which pose risks to wildlife. This time, though, one of them might’ve saved a life.
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