Kayaking off the coast of Florida, the man had seen iguanas in the water before, but not 4 miles from shore. Iguanas are actually excellent swimmers, but this one had probably been caught up in an unusually strong tide and swept out to sea. Given the currents, its adventure would almost certainly have ended badly if the eagle-eyed kayaker hadn’t spotted the strange object floating in 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. I ended up stopping and noticed that it started swimming. It was pretty crazy seeing this guy so far out. I have seen plenty swimming around the islands, but never one that far out.” Despite the man’s verbal encouragement, the iguana was a little wary at first, but it seemed to know that the kayak was its only hope. It tried jumping out of the water and grabbing the outrigger pole, but couldn’t quite make it, so the kayaker used a paddle to provide a stepping stone. After hanging out on the pole for a bit, the iguana eventually ended up on top of a cooler at the kayak’s stern.
The kayaker fired up the outboard motor and, surprisingly, the noise didn’t seem to bother the iguana who was happily sunning himself on the cooler. Going by the smile on his face as they headed for shore, the kayaker was delighted to have had a chance to perform an iguana rescue!
When they were finally near land, the iguana hopped off and swam over to some trees. His rescuer wished him well and told him to be safe!
Check out the video posted below and let us know what you thought in the comment section below the video. Be sure to like and share: your friends will surely enjoy seeing this thoroughly charming iguana rescue!