“Never have I ever….seen a black bear swim up out of the Gulf Coast and onto the beach.” –Jennifer Majors Smith
Wild scene from Northwest Florida where a black bear popped out of the Gulf and ran past a group of bewildered beachgoers on Sunday. AL.com spoke with a charter boat captain who operates out of Destin about the sighting who said its not uncommon to see bears out in the local waters.
“There are a lot of bears at Eglin Air Force Base. They swim across the bay. Sometimes they go for a joy swim.” –Captain Chris Kirby
“A man was yelling out ‘Bear!’ You would expect “shark or dolphin” but not bear. It came out of the Gulf and look tired but relieved. Of course, my animal loving son started following it, so my mother-in-law grabbed him. We were all shocked by and amazed to see what we saw. We were all glad to see him safe from the water. We all enjoy a dip in the water, but who knows how long he was in there.”