The Florida Keys are filled with tons of cool native animals. Tropical plants and trees cover the islands and many people head there for various water-related activities. One man was out on a fishing trip when he spotted something quite unusual. Never in a million years did he think he would see something so astonishing in the middle of the ocean.
20. Kayak Fisherman
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Steve is a kayak fisherman that enjoys heading out into the water on daily trips. He’s quite familiar with the Florida Keys and has an entire YouTube channel dedicated to his daily activities there.
19. Odd Sighting
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Steve has fished along the Florida Keys for many years and is used to the wildlife there. However, on one particular fishing trip, he noticed something in the water that stunned him. So what was it?
18. October 2017
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Back in October 2017, Steve was off on a regular fishing trip and filming his experience. He was about four miles from the shores of the Florida Keys. That was when he noticed something strange.
17. Odd Object
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Steve was filming as usual and was facing the setting sun when he noticed something strange in the water. “I was coming in from an offshore trip and I noticed a weird shaped object floating in the distance,” he wrote on his YouTube channel. He was immediately intrigued.
16. Good Guess
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“All I could see were the multiple fins running down its back so I though it was some sort of palm frond, but it just didn’t look right,” Steve explained. He decided to get closer as his curiosity was only getting more and more intense.
15. Wrong Guess
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As Steve made his way closer to the object his realized that his initial impression was wrong. It was definitely not some piece of palm tree and he was pretty stunned by what it actually was. Then the object did the strangest thing!
14. Swimming
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Steve continued to look at the object and just as he thought he knew what he was looking at it darted right by him! Yes, that’s right, the object began to swim. Steve started to laugh and he realized what he was staring at.
13. An Animal
It turns out that the strange object was an iguana! However, how did an iguana make it out so far into the water? “Dude, what are you doing out here?” Steve said to the iguana. “Are you lost or what?”
12. Helping Out
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Steve decided that he couldn’t leave the poor guy all the way out in the ocean so he offered him a ride back. “I’ll give you a ride back if you want,” he said to the iguana. The iguana looked pretty darn happy for the ride!
11. Bad Situation
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As the iguana made his way onto the boat, Steve quickly realized what the problem was. Although it was pretty humorous to see an iguana in the middle of the ocean, it was also part of a more serious issue.
10. Serious Issue
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“I have seen plenty swimming around the islands, but never one that far out. Most likely, because of the King tides that are occurring it got caught in one of the swift outgoing tides and got pushed out to sea,” Steve wrote.
9. Major Storms
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Due to the major storms that were occurring along the keys, the poor iguana likely got caught up in some pretty harsh tides. His little body was definitely not strong enough to keep him staying on the shore. Poor guy!
8. Fatal Situation
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“Most likely it would have died out there as the current that far out would most likely push it East with very little chance of coming back inshore,” Steve wrote. Steve knew that his help was going to change the iguana’s chance of survival greatly.
7. Exhausted
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It was obvious that the iguana was exhausted from treading water for that long. He almost fell back into the water as he desperately tried to get onto the boat. Once he was on the two set sail for shore.
6. Paddle Help
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Steve saw that the iguana was having a rough time so he held out his paddle to help him. It was a kind gesture and the iguana was happy to start sailing off. The two needed to reach land before the sun set!
5. Flying Off
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“Alright get seat-belted in,” Steve said to his new buddy, “’cause we’re gonna go flying.” The two set off and they really did go flying. The iguana looked excited to be on there and Steve was filming the entire thing!
4. Trust
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“It was pretty cool see it trust me enough (versus dying of course) to swim toward the kayak and hop on. And then for it to just cruise along in the open water,” Steve wrote. The experience was definitely memorable.
3. Mangroves
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Once the mangroves were in sight, Steve knew that the iguana would instinctually go over. “Then just as it saw the safety of the mangroves close by, it took a leap and swam to shore. Pretty cool.”
2. Holding On
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Once the iguana was perched onto the mangroves, Steve captured something else pretty funny. The iguana seemed to be holding on for dear life as to not get pulled back into the open water. It was nice to see him safe back where he belonged.
1. A True Hero
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Luckily for the iguana, Steve happened to be around to bring him back to land. It was a heroic move on Steve’s part and a memory that will stay with him forever.