Pamela McDowell

Short answer: Not very well.  An eagle’s breast stroke may be sufficient to get it to land that is not too far away, but Michael Phelps’ record is safe.  It had never occurred to me that an eagle might actually need to swim, until I watched the video below of a young eagle rescued off the coast of Vancouver Island this month.

Apparently, it is not uncommon for an eagle to be pulled underwater by a fish.  That’s no big deal if you’re an osprey, smaller, sleeker, and well-covered with water-repellant oils.  The osprey doesn’t fear the water – he dives straight in, turning at the last second to plunge feet-first into the water to grab a fish.  He may rest for a moment on the surface of the water, give a shake, then lift off with the fish wiggling in his talons.  The eagle prefers to skim the surface of the water and pluck an unlucky fish that is swimming too close to the surface.  If the fish is too heavy or the eagle is too inexperienced a fisher, he may be pulled under and have great difficulty getting airborne again.  This is where the swimming comes in, which is very difficult if you don’t have webbed feet!