“A Santa Cruz surfing instructor rescued a starving sea lion pup that was struggling in stormy waves by paddling the pup on his surfboard to safety.
The pup was trying to jump out of the water onto land, but waves were throwing it into the rocks. Nold and other observers watched the pup for a while before deciding it needed to be rescued.
The sea lion bit Nold when he first tried grabbing it out of rough surf.
“So I said, ‘Fine, you know where I’m at. You come to me,'” Nold told the sea lion.
Soon enough, “it latched its flippers onto my leg, it was its last bit of energy,” Nold said.”
Sea lion Little C was taken by the Marine Mammal Center for recovery, after a good, warm cuddle with Big C, Nold.
It wasn’t how the Center would advise it, but his efforts were good and eventually he did save the sea lion pup.
Read the story below and watch the photos and video of them together.