
Bald Eagle Filmed Swimming - pseudolus
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/14/732843218/bald-eagle-caught-elegantly-swimming
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YeGoblynQueenne
Now I see what Chomsky's always on about with his example of "instinctively,
eagles that fly, swim".

I thought it was just a sentence specifically made to be nonsensical, but no,
they actually _do_ swim.

(See for example: [http://annarborchronicle.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/07/A2Ch...](http://annarborchronicle.com/wp-
content/uploads/2013/07/A2Chron-Chomsky-FullTranscript.pdf))

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marai2
Though the linguistic tangent was off topic for the OP, I'm glad you shared
it, it was a really interesting tangent!

"... All of that isn’t really as significant as what’s more difficult to think
about, but much more important: What’s the fundamental design of language. If
you want to understand what the function of the visual system is, you can’t
just say “I use it to watch television.” That’s not biology. You want to
understand the visual system, you have to look into its nature. See what it
does. Investigate it. It’s a scientific problem. And then you find things
about the visual system that are surprising. It’s the same with language. Its’
not enough to say “Yeah, I use it to talk to my friends.” If you want to
understand something about it, you have to look into its nature. And you can’t
do that in a casual conversation. THat requires investigation, like any other
hard topic. And when you investigate it, you find things like I just
mentioned, that linear order just isn’t part of the way language is used. You
can see it in simple cases. Take the example I used last night, take this
sentence: “Eagles that fly swim.” Ok. And put an adverb in front of it: ..."

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mark_l_watson
A few years ago we were kayaking in Woods Lake (Arizona) and a naturalist told
us that Eagle parents had just left the area, leaving behind their juvenile
baby. This is normal behavior after parents have taught their offspring how to
function. Anyway, the very young Eagle kept trying to catch a fish for about
an hour until it snagged a small trout caught on just one talon. I quickly
flew to shore looking like it was going to drop the fish and it looked like it
eventually ate the entire fish. The same naturalist later told us that this
initial 'being on their own' period is a bit dangerous for these young Eagles
because they must catch sufficient food all on their own. Tough Eagle parent
love.

EDIT: off topic, but in San Diego while diving I have watched Cormorants
"flying underwater" \- very impressive just how fast they go. As someone else
here said, 'flying in a denser medium.'

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gerbilly
We see this all the time in Tofino.

Eagles try to catch things in the inlet, where it's shallow, and often have to
swim their way out if they miss.

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garmaine
There are two rescued bald eagles at the SF zoo which live on an island--you
can sometimes see them swim around their locale.

Edit: I left out the important part—their wings are broken so they are
flightless, hence the swimming.

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RyanAF7
I believe this is known as the 'chicken breast stroke' in ornithoculture.

But, seriously. My grandfather used to take my brother and I every summer to
see the bald eagles near their house.

Never really appreciated just how special that was. They are quite majestic
and their nests are huge.

This is one thing I'm glad no one listened to Ben Franklin about.

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madmulita
Is it swimming or flying in a denser medium?

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EForEndeavour
Technically, I'd say it's flying if the main upward force is lift, and
swimming if the main upward force is buoyancy.

And while it's often pointed out that sharks have negative buoyancy and have
to sink or swim, they're only slightly denser than water, and some species are
positively buoyant:
[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150619103518.h...](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150619103518.htm)

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grawprog
I went fishing with bald eagles once on the beach. I was there early in the
morning. There were tons of eagles on the beach. One by one they'd wade out
into the water and wait. Then they'd dunk their head down and pull out a fish
and fly away until there was only one left by the time i went home that just
didn't have any luck.

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j4mie
I wonder if other eagles ever do this? Maybe a distant Golden Eagle swimming
in a Scottish loch might be mistaken for a large aquatic creature of some kind
- Nessie? Birds are dinosaurs, after all..

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NikkiA
I imagine all/most eagles that feed on fish must have to swim at some points
in time, so probably develop a fairly decent swimming technique.

As for nessie, I'm not sure there are any outstanding 'unexplained' photos
(the 'surgeon's photo' is much like the famous bigfoot film - it's been
admitted to being a hoax, but 'true believers' insist that that's just the
person being coerced into a cover up)

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GrumpyNl
They make the same moves as flying.

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CydeWeys
Because of the low body density needed for flight, I suspect that all flighted
birds can swim to one degree or another. It is at least trivial for them to
float quite high in the water. And once you're doing that, you've got both
legs and wings that should be able to provide some manner of propulsion.

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sureaboutthis
Clams got legs!

[http://albanydish.blogspot.com/2013/09/clams-got-
legs.html](http://albanydish.blogspot.com/2013/09/clams-got-legs.html)

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jesal
I wonder what kind of creatures we would get if some group of eagles evolved
into sea creatures over the years

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geggam
Funny... Bald Eagle uses the butterfly stroke

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ghettoimp
Can a submarine... fly?

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euroclydon
If they’re too far from land, I guess they’ll drown.

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chicob
Since I saw a female dog performing pelvic thrusts on a female cat for no
apparent reason, I'm a lot less skeptic of this kind of headlines.

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magpi3
It is an expression of dominance. Male and female dogs both do it.

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chicob
I know. It was a joke.

