On Friday night, a 26-year-old surfer found himself alone, clinging to a lobster trap buoy roughly a quarter mile offshore at Haskell’s Beach. Within 30 minutes, he was rescued thanks to an infrared drone and rescue swimmers deployed by Santa Barbara County Fire.
The man had been surfing with a friend on the evening of February 6 when high surf knocked him off his board and swept him away from shore. His surfboard washed up on the sand. His friend, realizing immediately that something was wrong, called 9-1-1 without delay.
That quick call, officials say, made a huge difference.
Santa Barbara County Fire Department crews were dispatched at 6:28 p.m., according to the department. An initial shore search confirmed the severity of the situation when personnel located the missing surfer’s board on the beach.
Fire crews deployed aerial drones equipped with infrared cameras to scan the ocean in the dark. The technology — more commonly associated with mountain or nighttime rescues — has been part of the department’s toolkit for some time, said Mike Gray, public information officer for Santa Barbara County Fire.
“We’ve had that for a while now,” Gray said. “It comes in handy on night calls, obviously, but even just mountain rescues, trail rescues — and ocean rescues as well.”
The drone’s infrared camera detected a heat signature offshore. Video later released by the department shows the surfer gripping the top of a lobster trap buoy — an accidental lifeline that kept him from drifting farther into open water.
“It was completely random and fortunate that he ran into it,” Gray said of the buoy.
The drone hovered overhead, illuminating the area with what Gray described as an “impressive floodlight” while guiding rescue swimmers through the surf.
“The drone was above the person they needed to rescue,” Gray said. “The swimmers just followed that out and got right to him.”
Rescue swimmers entered from shore and made contact under real-time direction from the drone operator. The surfer had been holding onto the buoy for an estimated 20 to 30 minutes.
Here's the full edited video of last night's water rescue at Haskell's Beach. A 26 y/o surfer got swept out by high surf after losing his board, but his friend reported it immediately and he clung to a lobster trap buoy until help arrived.
— Santa Barbara County Fire Department (@SBCFireInfo) February 7, 2026
SB County Fire's shore search found the… pic.twitter.com/e9ZXdxcmzg
It was a short enough period that he remained uninjured, Santa Barbara County Fire said. Firefighter-paramedics evaluated him on the beach, determined he had no medical complaints, and released him at the scene.
Gray noted that the surf was significant that evening — part of a powerful swell that continued building into the weekend, pushing near double overhead by Saturday morning at many breaks along the coast.
Night surfing in such conditions adds another layer of risk. But in this case, Gray emphasized, the most critical factor was that the surfer was not alone.
“If you’re going to go out, especially if the waves are high, don’t go out alone. Bring someone with you,” Gray said.
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