There was an unusual occurrence on Thursday the 31st down on Salobreña beach, involving an owl in the water and its subsequent rescue.

The owl’s saviour was Carlos Lopez, who had spotted the bird in distress from his flat balcony in Salomar 2000. He had seen the owl actually fall into the sea and the consternation amongst beach users, so had gone down to the beach to see what had happened.

When he got there he soon found out the the object was a large eagle owl or great horned owl. Whilst other were trying to contact the emergency services, he decided to act directly and reach it the bird, which was slowly going under, despite its struggles, with the weight of its waterlogged plumage.

He hitched a ride on a pedal boat and then as they neared, dove in. Somehow he managed to steer the creature, keeping it on the surface, to the beach – he later calculated that an hour had passed between when he saw the bird hit the water, and its reaching the beach with his help.

(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucía)