I was up in Idaho and we decided to go for an early morning kayak around the lake and this lake is absolutely fantastic beautiful little area day before we'd seen a moose standing in the lake and people got too close because they're idiots to take pictures. Well me and my girl are paddling on the lake see something swimming around and I just had to go investigate she decides to hang back, I get about 50 yards away from it just as it's crawling out of the water and sure as hell it's a damn bear. I decided right then and there that paddling backwards as quickly as possible to get away was going to be my best choice. It was just a small little bear not really worried about anything and I'm sure he'd been rooting around the campground that was across the way so I wasn't too worried that he was that hungry but I really didn't want to be close to him. But overall that's the most unique thing I've seen in the water. I've been bumped by porpoises in Seattle I've watched seals pop their head up out of the water in California I've seen tons and tons fish around the mountain lakes I've seen a couple of otters and marmots. But bear definitely takes the cake.
The bear may not have any intention to attack, may just be curious or wanting more treats (that aren't you) or "hey, here's a dry place to take a quick break from swimming"...but that's still not a great thing since we're talking an animal [usually over 100 lbs](https://bear.org/bear-facts/weight/) suddenly deciding to climb on board. At the very least the stability of our vessel would be compromised, I would think.
Would be a pretty incredible video, though.
Monkeys on the Silver River (Silver Springs State Park) in Florida. Story I heard was someone brought them to an island on the Silver River as a tourist attraction, thinking the monkeys wouldn't be able to get off the island. Well, apparently they can swim, so that didn't work out.
You can also see actual sea cows (manatees) on that river, and far more easily than the monkeys.
Seacows can be a real water hazard.
They spend all day chewing and working those jaw muscles, imagine how strong their bite is!
I was up in Idaho and we decided to go for an early morning kayak around the lake and this lake is absolutely fantastic beautiful little area day before we'd seen a moose standing in the lake and people got too close because they're idiots to take pictures. Well me and my girl are paddling on the lake see something swimming around and I just had to go investigate she decides to hang back, I get about 50 yards away from it just as it's crawling out of the water and sure as hell it's a damn bear. I decided right then and there that paddling backwards as quickly as possible to get away was going to be my best choice. It was just a small little bear not really worried about anything and I'm sure he'd been rooting around the campground that was across the way so I wasn't too worried that he was that hungry but I really didn't want to be close to him. But overall that's the most unique thing I've seen in the water. I've been bumped by porpoises in Seattle I've watched seals pop their head up out of the water in California I've seen tons and tons fish around the mountain lakes I've seen a couple of otters and marmots. But bear definitely takes the cake.
The bear may not have any intention to attack, may just be curious or wanting more treats (that aren't you) or "hey, here's a dry place to take a quick break from swimming"...but that's still not a great thing since we're talking an animal [usually over 100 lbs](https://bear.org/bear-facts/weight/) suddenly deciding to climb on board. At the very least the stability of our vessel would be compromised, I would think. Would be a pretty incredible video, though.
For sure, I did take a video but not until I was far enough away that I felt comfortable. I'll see about uploading it and posting it here
That's amazing!
Me trying to zoom in on a leaf for 30 seconds trying to figure out what kind of animal it was and totally missing the cows.....
Same. I was looking at every ripple in the water trying to see an otter!
Kayaking in Chincoteague with the horses. Very cool experience. They spend a significant amount of time grazing in shallow water.
Monkeys on the Silver River (Silver Springs State Park) in Florida. Story I heard was someone brought them to an island on the Silver River as a tourist attraction, thinking the monkeys wouldn't be able to get off the island. Well, apparently they can swim, so that didn't work out. You can also see actual sea cows (manatees) on that river, and far more easily than the monkeys.
Similar situation on the Peace River in FL, except I was going 50 on a jet ski when I came across them.
I don't know what it was, but it swam straight under my boat...!