Bear filmed swimming off Outer Banks, proving their determination to reach islands

Video has surfaced on social media of a bear seen swimming off the Outer Banks, just days after Cape Lookout National Seashore warned visitors of bear footprints turning up on beaches.

The minute-long video was posted May 7 on Facebook by Kelsey Renee Smith of the Atlantic community in Carteret County. It was filmed around 11 a.m. that day in Ophelia Inlet near Cape Lookout National Seashore, Smith told McClatchy News.

The inlet is a swift-moving Outer Banks passage connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Core Sound.

“My brother Donovan and mom (Michelle) we’re out in the boat fishing when they spotted something swimming out of the Inlet towards the ocean,” Smith told McClatchy News. “They thought it was a dog when they noticed it was a bear, so they guided him back towards the north side of the Outer Banks beach. Since then he has been seen back on the beach.”

The National Park Service reported May 9 that bear footprints were found on the beach near Ophelia Inlet, and the park warned anglers and surfers to take measures not to attract it with food scraps and fish guts. The track was found on South Core Banks, which is separated from the mainland by a mile of water at its closest.

“But it could be on North Core Banks now or it could have returned to the mainland. When we’ve had bears in the past -- (swimming) inlets have not been a problem for them,” the park posted.

“Bears are great swimmers. They swim (and sometimes wade in the shallower sections of the sound) across the sound to reach the islands.”

Since the park posted the alert, other Outer Banks visitors have reported seeing footprints, including some that were shown passing within feet of tents.

Cape Lookout officials say black bears are not considered a threat to the wild horses that roam the Outer Banks.

One of the largest black bear concentrations in the southeastern U.S. is on the mainland across from the Outer Banks, at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Department of Interior says.

That coastal bear population has been increasing, the National Park Service says. However, it’s rare for bears to leave the mainland and swim the sounds to the Outer Banks, experts say. None stay, due to the lack of fresh water and limited sources of food, experts say.

This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Bear filmed swimming off Outer Banks, proving their determination to reach islands."