Hide Transcript Show Transcript

WATER. JESSICA: THAT SMALL WHITE HEAD YOU SEE BOBBING IN AND OUT OF THE WATER IS NOT A HUMAN OR SOME ODD LAKE CREATURE, THAT’S ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST POWERFUL SYMBOLS , A BALD EAGLE SWIMMING IN LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE. >> TO SEE HOW UNCANNY IT IS FOR IT TO BE LIKE A HUMAN DOING THE BREAST STROKE, IT IS AMAZING. JESSICA: TYLER BLAKE SAYS HE WAS STARTING HIS DAY AT A CONSTRUCTION JOB IN WOLFEBORO MONDAY MORNING, WHEN HE NOTICED SOMETHING FAR OFF IN THE LAKE . ONCE HE KNEW IT WAS A BALD EAGLE, HE STARTED RECORDING. >> I RAN DOWN TO THE DOCKS AND I SAW A FLAPPING IN THE WATER. I WASN’T SURE IF IT WAS HURT. JESSICA: BIOLOGIST CHRIS MARTIN SAYS THE EAGLE DOESN’T APPEAR TO BE HURT. RATHER, IT IS SWIMMING, WITH MOST LIKELY A LARGE FISH, IN IT’S TALONS. >> IT WAS PERFORMING A GOODWILL -- PERFORMING VERY WELL. IT WILL PROBABLY EAT WHAT IT CAN’T AND CARRY -- IT CAN AND CARRY THE REST BACK TO THE NEST. JESSICA: MARTIN SAYS BALD EAGLES CAN SWIM WELL WHILE HOLDING LARGE FISH, BECAUSE THEY ARE BUOYANT AND CAN TAKE A BREAK WHEN NEEDED. >> THEY CAN STOP IN THE WATER AND REST AND THEN SWIM SOME MORE. >> THE THOUGHT NEVER CROSSED MY MIND THAT AN EAGLE WOULD SWIM IN THE WATER LIKE THAT BUT NOW THAT I’VE BEEN EXPOSED TO IT, IT MAKES SENSE. JESSICA: ONCE ON THE STATE’S THREATENED SPECIES LIST, MARTIN SAYS NOW THE BALD EAGLE POPULATION IS GROWING BY ABOUT 10% A YEAR, MAKING IT MORE LIKELY YOU COULD SEE ONE, EITHER IN THE AIR OR MAYBE EVEN SWIMMING FOR ITS NEXT MEAL. JE

Advertisement Bald eagle captured on video swimming in Lake Winnipesaukee Video went viral after being posted to WMUR u Local Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A bald eagle made quite an entrance on a Wolfeboro shoreline this week.Laconia resident Tyler Blake captured a bald eagle swimming in Lake Winnipesaukee on video and shared it to WMUR’s u Local Facebook page. The video quickly went viral.>> Download the FREE WMUR app“Just to see how uncanny it is, for it to be, like, a human doing the breaststroke, it's just amazing,” Blake said.Blake said he was starting his day at a construction job in Wolfeboro on Monday morning when he noticed something far off in the lake. Once he realized it was a bald eagle, he started recording.“I ran down to the docks and I saw an eagle flapping in the water,” he said. “I’m, like, ‘Wow!’ I wasn’t sure if it was hurt or something.”New Hampshire Audubon biologist Chris Martin said the eagle doesn't appear to be hurt. Rather, it’s swimming, most likely with a large fish in its talons. “In fact, it was performing very well,” Martin said. “Clearly, it's wings are in good shape, and it's hunting, probably for young in the nest right now and eating what it can, and then it will carry the rest back.”Martin said bald eagles can swim well while holding large fish because they are buoyant and can take a break when needed. “If the swim is too far, they'll actually stop in the water, pause with their wings out and rest, and then swim some more,” he said.“The thought had never crossed my mind that an eagle would swim in the water like that, but now that I've been exposed to it, it makes sense,” Blake said.Once on the state's threatened species list, Martin said New Hampshire’s bald eagle population is growing by about 10 percent per year, making it more likely to see them flying or even swimming.