What’s This Wallaby Doing In The Ocean?
A group of divers off the coast of Australia’s New South Whales coast encountered an odd site – a swamp wallaby one kilometer out to sea. This diving trip turned into an animal rescue effort.
It was the “weirdest thing I have seen in a long time,” Laura Sanchez Peregrin, 29, a marine scientist from Barcelona, Spain, who has been studying in Australia told Stuff News.
“We saw this hairy thing just floating around,” Sanchez Peregrin said.
“The poor thing was exhausted. It was a hot day so who could blame him for wanting to refresh himself! But he was way, way out,” she wrote on social media.
Wallabies have long claws, a strong tail and an aversion to being hassled. The rescue of the wallaby nicknamed “Swampy” proved to be difficult.
“At first, it was very difficult: he was defensive and wallabies have huge claws – and we almost gave up and left it all in hands of natural selection,” she wrote.
“We dragged him upside down, so they [the two men in the boat] could take hold of the legs.
“We then dragged him over, and I covered his face.
photo credit: Laura Sanchez Peregrin
“As soon as I did that, he calmed down.”
Mark Eldridge, the principal research scientist with the Australian Museum, told Stuff that kangaroos and wallabies are competent swimmers and often seek refuge in water if they are chased.
“It is unusual to see them [swim], and this one sounds like it got a bit off track,” Eldridge said.
The wallaby weighed an estimated 30-kilograms and the boat Sanchez Peregrin wasn’t exactly the size of a yacht.
Ms. Sanchez Peregrin said having a big wallaby in the small boat was frightening.
“It’s a really small tinny, and he had really long claws, so it was pretty scary and he wouldn’t let us grab him.
“Once we let him go, he stayed there for a bit, exhausted. Then [he] took off, bounced away towards the bush, never looking back. Weirdest thing that has happened to me in a while. It all put a big smile on my face though,” she wrote.
photo credit: Laura Sanchez Peregrin
