Barn owls are not supposed to show up almost 70 miles out at sea, but one did—and then promptly ran out of steam. Members of the British Army’s offshore racing team spotted the exhausted bird trailing their yacht during a race around Britain and Ireland. After it repeatedly plunged into the water and finally collapsed on deck, the crew scooped it into a box, and kept it warm until a Caister Independent Lifeboat crew rendezvoused off the Norfolk coast to ferry it ashore. A conservation officer with the Barn Owl Trust called the case highly unusual, the BBC reports, and said it was likely the owl had inadvertently hitched a ride on a fishing boat before ending up far offshore.
The owl is now at the RSPCA’s East Winch Wildlife Centre in King’s Lynn, where staff say it arrived dehydrated and underweight but has been rehydrated and already eaten a mouse. Specialists hope it can be returned to the wild. The lifeboat crew members noted rescuing wildlife isn’t new—they’ve previously helped dogs, a horse, and seals—but said this mid-race owl pickup was a standout. The owl was nicknamed “Little Reg,” for a determined crew member, because it “refused to give up,” per the Telegraph.