Floating 3 km Out at Sea! Australian Fishing Crew Rescues the Most Unlikely Catch: a Kangaroo

Why it's worth a look

Out fishing, and you haul up a kangaroo — the crew off Port Lincoln, South Australia, won't forget this catch. The roo had drifted about 3 km from land and was too spent even to kick; cradled in a crew member's arms, it was 'almost like he was having a little nap.' The ending is pure warmth: brought back to shore, it sat a while, then hopped off on its own.

Full report

ABC Eyre Peninsula reported that a fishing crew in Boston Bay, off Port Lincoln in South Australia, pulled an unusual catch from the water: a male kangaroo, swimming far from land.

Skipper Ryan Smith was the first to spot something in the water and shouted that he thought there was a roo; the crew doubled back to check, and there it was, floating about 3 km offshore. Crew member Jake Murray estimated the animal was exhausted.

To get it aboard, the crew opened the boat's sea door, which lowers to near water level, and lifted the tired animal up under its arms. Murray, a diver and farmer who often deals with wild animals, hugged the kangaroo to keep it calm and to control its powerful legs. He described it as waterlogged and knackered: 'Honestly, I was just kind of cradling him there for a while and it was almost like he was having a little nap.'

The crew brought it back to shore. The kangaroo sat on the beach for a while, recovered its strength, and hopped away. Murray said he had seen kangaroos in the shallows and at surf beaches before, but never in the middle of the bay.