Video of bald eagle ‘swimming’ with fish in its claws on St. Croix river goes viral

Thought we saw an injured bald eagle on the St. Croix River tonight. He wasn’t injured #wow pic.twitter.com/APvQEr1HrX

— Dan Goff (@dgoff17) August 15, 2019

But viewers were in for a surprise when the footage revealed that the bald eagle was not injured but in fact swimming, holding on to a fish with its claw. When the fish tried to wriggle back into the water, the eagle held on to the fish with its talons and pulled it back in.

An hour later, Goff tweeted out another video which revealed that the fish was already half-eaten by the time the eagle got it to shore.

No, this is about one hour later. Fish was half eaten.. :) pic.twitter.com/8uPy8PsLxN

— Dan Goff (@dgoff17) August 15, 2019

Many took to Twitter to appreciate the bird’s raw power. Here are the reactions:

Thank you, I’ve learned something new. You probably can tell I’am not a fisherman. I do love eating them 😁. Thanks again, blessings to you and yours.

— Mel Craigen (@CraigenMel) August 15, 2019

This is amazing.

— Rhea Seehorn (@rheaseehorn) August 15, 2019

I like how he’s at the shoreline thinking, “now what do I do?”

— Jim Harris (@jimharris360) August 15, 2019

Eagles can carry about an extra 30 percent of their body weight.

— Ms. Cedar Bedar (@Wildkattz) August 16, 2019

Perfect ending. Thx for sharing, Dan. ❤💕

— Joy Edwards (@dogsshouldrule) August 15, 2019

Thanks for the follow up footage!

— Doris Murdock (@DorisMurdock) August 15, 2019

That is one big (I wanna say) eel

— ThedepressedTardigra _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):_ (@ThesadTardigrad) August 15, 2019

Shore lunch……👍

— Obstructed-Views©™® (@00obscuredviews) August 15, 2019

Just amazing footage!

— kathryn lanthier (@apuchine) August 15, 2019