VIDEO: Coyote seen swimming in San Francisco Bay between Angel Island and Tiburon

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — While coyotes are recognized to be frequent residents all through a lot of the Bay Area, response is pouring in after an odd sight within the San Francisco Bay.

A coyote swimming between Angel Island State Park and Tiburon was caught on digicam.

ABC7 News requested individuals in Tiburon who simply bought off the ferry from San Francisco to take a look at the video.

“It’s kind of crazy,” stated Joseph Soriano of Mill Valley.

“That’s so cool. I’ve never seen a coyote swim, but I saw one in the city last night while I was driving,” stated Guilia Albers of San Francisco.

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Bill Miller, an environmental scientist with Angel Island State Park, noticed the animal within the deep water on a current Friday morning and captured video of it.

“It was a coyote,” he stated. “It was absolutely surprising and amazing to see one swimming in the Bay.”

He was on a workers boat going to test sport cameras on the island for deer and coyotes.

Miller says the coyote was out swimming in Raccoon Strait — the waterway between Tiburon and Angel Island.

“I thought it was a seal or sea lion at first — just this brown lump swimming in the water,” stated Miller. “But then you can see the ears sticking up and the snout.”

Experts say it is uncommon to see a coyote swimming within the Bay, however Peter Scott with California State Parks has seen it occur earlier than.

“I saw one in 2022,” Scott stated. “It was kind of fun to see. I was coming into the harbor. Seagulls were diving bombing it. It was what they do.”

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Brett Furnas is a senior environmental scientist and quantitative ecologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“In 2017, it was discovered that there were coyotes on the island and there weren’t any before. And so, we believed that they were swimming across to the island,” stated Furnas.

Furnas believes coyotes on Angel Island have helped management the overpopulation of deer there. He says as many as 17 coyotes now reside on the island.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife and California State Parks are engaged on a long-term examine to be taught extra about coyotes and the way they’re impacting the native ecosystem.

As for the coyote noticed swimming within the Bay — what it was doing, the place it was going, and why it turned again to Angel Island, that is nonetheless unclear.

“Maybe coyotes want to go somewhere else,” Furnas stated. “Young coyotes want to set up new territories and they are dispersing.”

Everyone appears to have their very own principle.

“You’re either hungry or something is chasing you,” Soriano stated.

Regardless, it is a sight many individuals will not neglect anytime quickly.