Florida beachgoers have long been accustomed to the threats from sharks in their warm waters, but bathers at Destin recently got a surreal shock when they saw a black bear emerge from the surf and amble on to the beach.
Local TV station WMBB reported that stunned onlookers saw the bear, which appeared to be a youngster, swimming in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and heading to shore.
The bear navigated the surf and hit the beach before running off – apparently spooked by the large crowd of onlookers that had gathered to watch it make landfall.
The bear did not hurt anyone – or appear injured itself – and its fate is unknown as video posted on Facebook showed it running off into the sand dunes and buildings lining the beach. It is not known why the bear was in the Gulf of Mexico or how long it had been swimming at sea.
Bears generally are good swimmers and polar bears especially so as they can swim many miles out to sea to hunt seals. But the frozen Arctic is a long way from the sunny tourist-packed sands of Florida.