Beachgoers and vacationers got quite the surprise over the weekend when they spotted a black bear swimming at a crowded Florida beach.
Several witnesses saw the curious young bear taking a dip in Destin's beautiful blue Gulf of Mexico waters and captured the rare sighting on video which quickly circulated on social media Sunday. Captain Frank Merrell was on his way in from a dive trip when he said he spotted something black in the water. "My first thought was maybe a dog, but was in complete shock when I realized it was a bear," he said.
In other videos taken of the same bear, crowds could be seen watching the animal along the beach and they appeared to keep a close distance. Towards the end of one video, the bear seemed to have enough of the water and ran off in the sand past beach chairs and hopefully, back into the wild. While black bears can be found almost anywhere in the Sunshine State, the Florida Fish and Wildlife said they prefer a mixture of flatwoods, swamps, scrub oak ridges, bayheads and hammock If you ever feel threatened by a bear; observe a sick, injured, dead or orphaned bear; or need to report someone who is either harming bears or intentionally feeding them, you're asked to contact the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC .
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Black LGBTQ+ activists join ABC13 for town hall on Black Pride and mental healthSix voices from Houston's Black LGBTQ+ community joined ABC13 for an exploration of Black Pride, coming out and how to best address mental health concerns.
Read more »
Bears on the Beach? ‘It’s not uncommon,’ Florida charter boat captain saysBears on the Beach? ‘It’s not uncommon,’ Florida charter boat captain says (video)
Read more »
Bear becomes beach bum in Florida, cools off in Gulf surf'We were all shocked by and amazed to see what we saw,' Jennifer Majors Smith said.
Read more »
Bear becomes beach bum in Florida, cools off in Gulf surf'We were all shocked by and amazed to see what we saw,' Jennifer Majors Smith said.
Read more »
Donald Trump indicted: Six of the most shocking details revealed in classified documents investigationDonald Trump was indicted by the Justice Department on Friday on 37 criminal charges related to the former president’s mishandling of classified documents that he allegedly improperly took from the White House after leaving office in 2021.
Read more »
17 fatalities, 736 crashes: The shocking toll of Tesla’s AutopilotTesla’s driver-assistance system, known as Autopilot, has been involved in far more crashes than previously reported, causing widespread concern about the car manufacturer.
Read more »