Two kayak fishermen in North Carolina experienced a once-in-a-lifetime moment Monday when a black bear interrupted their fishing in Stumpy Point Bay near the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.
Mikey Sabadic and a friend noticed a bear walking along the marsh and decided to “creep up and get a good look at how big it truly was,” he wrote on Facebook.
“You could see this big black blob across the water, Sabadic told McClatchy.
And then the “big black blob” started coming at them.
“On our way, it decided to cross the river and head towards us!” Sabadic wrote. “I was able to get within about 12 feet of this massive black bear and follow him all the way to shore for a 1/4 mile almost!
“It was absolutely incredible to be so close to an animal with such power!
“[It] swam across the sound like it was nothing, [and] went for around a 1/2-mile swim and didn’t struggle a bit!”
Sabadic told McClatchy the kayak fishermen made eye contact with the bear a couple of times. The bear weighed 350 to 400 according to some guides they spoke to later.
Sabadic has seen bears before in Dare County, but he told McClatchy they usually run away when they spot him.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge has what is believed to be one of the largest concentrations of black bear found in the southeastern United States.
So seeing a bear isn’t unusual, but it isn’t every day you see one swimming.
“The fishing wasn’t all that great, but that didn’t matter,” Sabadic wrote. “I had one of the most insane, amazing, once-in-a-lifetime moments happen while in my kayak today!”
One he and his friend won’t soon forget.
Photo courtesy of ViralHog.
