Santa Barbara rescue teams saved five surfers Wednesday morning caught in pounding surf off Isla Vista area beaches. County Fire spokesperson Captain Dave Zaniboni said the first distress call came at 9:16 a.m. from Goleta Beach. The surfer, a young male, had been surfing at Campus Point when he was swept nearly a mile east down the coastline. Jet skis and a helicopter were dispatched to pluck him from the water. Over the next two hours, four more distress calls came in from the Isla Vista area, including for a surfer trapped against the cliffs and another on the brink of hypothermia. Sadecki said the incoming storm coupled with a high tide is making conditions extremely precarious. “We stress that inexperienced surfers should not be in the water today,” he said.
