A family on a boating trip off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii had an unexpected encounter when they spotted a mysterious object in the water.
At first, they thought it was a simple log, but as they approached, they soon realized it was something much more fascinating.
According to June Mellor, one of the family members, they initially mistook it for floating driftwood, until it started to move.
Confused, they speculated it might be a dog, but upon a closer look, they discovered it was a boar.
The Mellor family managed to capture the surprising encounter on a video that has since gone viral.
Wild boar in Hawaii swept out to sea
Mellor was bewildered how the boar ended up in the ocean in the first place, then managed to get so far out, as they were around two miles offshore.
Regardless of how it happened, they were determined to rescue the animal, which turned into a 45 minute ordeal while they circled the boat around it trying to figure out the best approach.
Finally, Mellor’s son was able to secure a rope around the boar’s torso, allowing them to safely bring it on board.
Once rescued, the family proceeded with their original plan to visit a nearby sandbar and spent the next two hours accompanying the pig, which they affectionately named “Miracle.”
During their encounter, the family attempted to hydrate Miracle, but the animal seemed more interested in sleep than drinking water.
Wild boar returns to solid ground in Hawaii
When they eventually returned to land, they drove the pig to a suitable area in Kaneohe for release. As soon as Miracle’s feet touched the grass, a remarkable transformation occurred.
“She sniffed the ground and leaves around, wiggled her tail then disappeared into the wilderness,” Mellor told KHON 2 News.
Elsewhere in the world, a newborn puppy was rescued from a pipe after getting trapped nearly 30 feet underground.
A tiny American Mastiff was accidentally kicked into an open gully by its mother while she was giving birth to the rest of her litter.
The dog’s owners initially called the fire department for help, but had to call in plumbing experts Dyno-Rod in Ireland to snake the puppy out of the pipe.
“We fed the drain camera down and fitted a noose to it so when we located the pup we were able to ever so gently loop that round and bring him slowly and carefully to the surface,” engineer Billy Stevens said about the rescue.
“The whole rescue mission took two-and-a-half hours and we could see what was happening throughout via a small screen.”
Stevens said it took the puppy “Herculean amount of strength” to claw his way up the pipe as they aided him with the loop around his neck.
“We couldn’t rush it and just pull him up quickly with force because we could have dropped him and harmed him in the process,” he noted.
“The pup was exhausted by the end of it but there was a happy ending. He’s certainly had a dramatic start to his young life,” Stevens explained.
The dog, who was named Dyno in honor of his rescuers, “was smothered in muck, but otherwise completely unharmed” during the dramatic rescue.
