What you should know
- The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area shared the photo of the footprint on social media on June 7.
- Bears have visited Malibu beaches “at least twice” recently
- GPS tracking evidence further confirmed that the black bear had a close ride into the surf.
Find some footprints in the wet sand?
You’ll see them along the beach any day of the year, along with the distinctive tracks left behind by other ocean-loving creatures, including seabirds, crustaceans and spring-spawning superstars, the grunion.
But running into the tracks of a shaggy, lumbering, midnight visitor of the bear variety?
Just like us, bears are drawn to the waves, or so some telltale tracks left near Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu reveal.
The owners of the vehicle, who arrived at their house and ran into the animals, believe that the bears pounced on their truck when they sniffed out a sandwich.
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area shared an image of paw prints on their social media pages on June 7, 2023.
Have you ever seen a black bear take a midnight walk on the beach? Neither do we, but we know it happened recently and at least twice in Malibu, thanks to paw print and GPS tracking evidence,” the post read.
Bears are so often depicted in wooded or chaparral-filled environments, the mountains and foothills where they are known to regularly roam, that envisioning a large-footed animal at the ocean’s edge feels almost too fanciful to ponder.
But fanciful, it is not, as this intriguing image shows us.
Eager to learn more about BB-12, the “ancient” black bear of the Santa Monica Mountains?
Following the ever-living fountain at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a good place to start.
And, as always, the rangers regularly provide the cougar content many of us crave, including the recent discovery of three adorable puppies in Simi Hills.
This story first appeared on Telemundo 52’s sister station, NBCLA. Click here to read this story in English.
