Featured Image Credit: GrindTV
A kayaker enjoying an offshore trip in the Florida Keys came across a strange sight on his way back to shore. In the distance, he spotted a strangely shaped object floating on the surface of the water. “All I could see were the multiple fins running down its back so I thought it was some sort of palm frond, but it just didn’t look right,” the Kayaker, identified as Steve, explained. He paddled closer to get a better look at the mysterious floating object began to swim.
Turns out it was an iguana, a large lizard resembling that of a prehistoric-looking mini-dinosaur. But why was this little land creature found 4 miles from the shore? Steve decided to help the green reptile out and hitched him a ride in the back of his kayak on top of a cooler. He took a video of the rescue mission saying to the creature, “What are you doing out here? You lost or what? Do you want a ride? I’ll give you a ride back if you want.”
Their friendship was short-lived, as soon as the iguana caught sight of the mangroves close by he jumped ship and swam to safety. It is not uncommon for iguanas to swim around the islands out in the Keys, but 4 miles from shore was a long way. Steve thought that maybe the little guy got swept out to sea due to the King tides that are occurring. If Steve hadn’t rescued him he would likely have died, with little chance of making it back to shore. Steve joked about the encounter saying, “But you never know and it could be it’s normal daily swim back and forth between Cuba and the U.S.”