John Jefferson
Social media users are seeking to name a surfer caught on video who saved a struggling seabird earlier this week in Florida.
Identifying the Good Samaritan on a surfboard in the viral video has been no ‘shore thing,’ however. The video has been shared hundreds of times on Reels.
Brandon Terronez, who took the video while walking the pier at Cocoa Beach, said to FOX 35 Orlando, “He’s a hero to a lot of people.”
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“We did think that poor bird might be done for in that moment,” said Terronez to FOX 35 Orlando.
Out of the blue, a surfer gently scooped up the bird in distress and placed it on his surfboard before paddling back to shore.
“[The bird] was either waterlogged or it was pushed in from a storm,” Heather Pepe-Dillon to FOX 35 Orlando.
Pepe-Dillon’s agency, Wild Florida Rescue, responds to calls for wildlife in distress in Brevard County, Florida.
“If this man would have come into shore, called in, it would not have been rescued, so this is a fantastic case, and we love to see it,” added Pepe-Dillon.
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Wild Florida Rescue was not called in this specific instance, but from the video, Heather Pepe-Dillon believes the bird may have been a sooty tern. The seabirds cannot survive when caught in rough waters.
“It was either waterlogged or it was pushed in from a storm,” said Pepe-Dillon to FOX 35 Orlando. “They just get colder and colder, and they could get hypothermia.”
The video continues to garner attention on social media. “I thought it would be seen by a few people on my Facebook list,” said Brandon Terronez to FOX 35 Orlando. “Instead, it has blown up quite a bit.”
One of the top comments reads, “and then God created surfers.”
“It may only take a few seconds out of your day like this surfer, and it can have a ripple effect, you know, make a lasting impact,” said Terronez.
Fox News Digital has not yet found success in identifying the mystery surfer in the video.
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