British sailors rescued a sandpiper 70 nautical miles off the coast
The crew of the British Army’s sailing team rescued an exhausted puffin about 70 nautical miles off the coast during the race around Great Britain and Ireland. The bird made its way onto the yacht Fujitsu British Soldier, which is participating in the 50th anniversary RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race, according to France 24.
Team captain Will Naylor told race organizers that toward the end of the race, the crew gained an “extra member”—an exhausted shearwater that the sailors were helping. He also joked that someone from the original crew would have to “take a seat on the plank.”
The bird didn’t manage to get on board right away: the shearwater tried to land on the head of one of the crew members and then fell from the mast into the sea three times. Eventually, she ended up exhausted on the deck, where the sailors secured her with a towel.
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Sergeant Mark Petherbridge of the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, said the crew had already thought they’d lost the bird, but it kept returning to the yacht. At first, the barn owl was named Little Reg, but it was later discovered that she was a female, so she was renamed Little Regina.
The Barn Owl Trust, Marine and Wildlife Rescue, and the Caister Independent Lifeboat joined the rescue operation. The Caister Independent Lifeboat rescue service picked up the bird to transport it to a wildlife center, while the Army Sailing Association team continued their 1,805-nautical-mile voyage to the finish line in Cowes.
