A DROWNING owl has been miraculously saved by a paddle surfer off the coast of Marbella.
The royal owl, a protected species in Spain, fell from the sky after it was attacked by a large gang of seagulls.
But in a strike of fortune, a nearby paddle boarder witnessed the owl plunging towards the water near the Puente Romano hotel breakwater.
He managed to scoop the bird, rarely seen in daylight, from the water and took it back to land on his paddle board.
Instead of being scared, the injured owl willingly accepted the ride back to shore, where its rescuer called the Recuperation Centre for Threatened Species (CREAS).
