San Francisco coyote swims to Alcatraz | Hacker News Reader

San Francisco coyote swims to Alcatraz

sfgate.com

220 pointskaycebasques72 comments

This sort of thing is a huge problem here in New Zealand. The only native mammal here is a bat, we have mostly birds which evolved for a really long time with only avian predators. So they’re hilariously poorly adapted for surviving standard predators (cats, rats, dogs etc) which first the Maori and subsequently Europeans brought. For example, many of them are flightless and tend to freeze when threatened - works well against eagles but is a terrible idea when threatened by a cat.

As a result, we have many animals, mostly birds, which are totally unique and also critically endangered. Many of them can only survive on offshore islands which have been comprehensively cleared of predators at vast effort and expense. The islands need to be relatively accessible since humans have to get to them to maintain them, but it turns out that once in a while a predator will swim quite vast distances for no apparent reason, and it only takes one to mess up years of painstaking work. Quite apart from killing a bunch of birds whose total remaining numbers might range from the tens to the hundreds of individuals.

I too am flightless and freeze while threatened

My upvote didn’t feel enough for this comment. So here’s my kudos for a nice chuckle!

You are very kind! Thank you .

Direct ecological management is unfortunately a bit of a game of using a bucket to fix a leaky ship. The equilibrium that established the ecosystem dynamics in the first place is disrupted. A new equilibrium might form over time, but we enforce the old one because that is what we documented when we first came to a place, even though it is no longer thermodynamically favorable.

Ironically, the ecology of an island itself came from events like a random animal swimming to it over the historical record and finding sufficient spare resources or an ecological niche they could satisfy sufficiently to reproduce. Distance from mainland and species diversity is very strongly correlated reflecting increasingly scarce odds of these "heroic journeys" at greater distances. Species themselves are capable of exhausting an islands resources and putting themselves into local extinction even with no human intervention (such as the case of the last of the mammoths on wrangel island).

A lot of work and money has gone in to preventing zebra mussels from spreading to new lakes in Minnesota. Think free sites for people to have their boats cleaned when they’re going from lake to lake, PR campaigns, etc.

My parent’s small pond, which has never seen a boat or any other real human activity, got them before the big lake it’s connected to did. Clearly there was some other way they could spread, presumably by bird.

Anyways, one by one every lake in the area no has zebra mussels. Even if they would only spread via human, it was clearly only a matter of time. As much as they suck (they’re sharp and attach themselves to basically anything in the lake) I’m not sure the expense has been worth simply delaying the inevitable.

> I’m not sure the expense has been worth simply delaying the inevitable.

Now that I'm jaded I ask myself how many government and private sector jobs were "created" (in sarcasm quotes because broken windows fallacy) washing all those boats for free over the years and whether they even expected to prevent the spread or if the spread is the justification for expansion.

Those are actually great jobs for the government to be creating. Having a workforce of people dedicated to maintaining the environment is invaluable. These people are so poorly paid and driven by passion for their work the government is getting a great deal on all the hard work they do.

Probably a swallow. They could carry them.

African or European?

Wonder how many will get that…

Yeah, famously obscure and underground comedy troupe Monty Python's Flying Circus, you've probably never heard of them, especially in hacker circles.

;-)

I'm constantly surprised at how many cultural conventions are mysteries to modern generations.

One of the more amusing episodes for me, was when my daughter discovered this great group: The Beatles.

There used to be an ad for a radio station back in the 80s where a girl says, “Mom, did you know Paul McCartney used to be in a band before Wings?”

I think I remember that.

> I'm constantly surprised at how many cultural conventions are mysteries to modern generations.

Some of my law students are only dimly aware of Jerry Seinfeld. And when I play a bit of the organ solo from Procul Harum's 1967 Whiter Shade of Pale (to illustrate a copyright-royalties point), I'm lucky if one person recognizes it.

It’s often surprising what we discover younger people have no idea about. I had a twenty-something co-worker in 2018 who was a self-professed aficionado of submarine movies who had never seen Yellow Submarine (I can’t remember now if he’d heard of it at least or if even that was beyond his ken). My profile picture on my gmail account is a picture of Harpo Marx because I occasionally use Harpo as a nickname thanks to my first name having become undesirable a decade ago and I had a recruiter that I was working with ask me who the picture was, apparently having never seen a Marx brothers movie or even heard of them.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

I still remember (years ago now) my coworker telling me her family stayed in a motel on a trip and her children asking her how the phone worked. They had never seen a dial phone before and when asked, tried putting their finders in and out the holes to see if that would dial.

There was a somewhat lame Kevin Kline/Tom Selleck movie, called In and Out (1997), where one of the characters is this vacuous model (Shalom Harlow), who tries using a dial phone in that manner.

It's really odd stuff, humans are obsessed with declaring one moment in time as the "right one" and then trying to keep it like that forever. Evolution? We need to document gods work! People driving their SUV to protests for "conservation", the irony is thick.

We can acknowledge historical change while still acting to prevent unnecessary modern destruction. To my set of values, these ecosystems are worth protection from the accelerated decay almost always caused by human development, and losing them to indifference is a permanent tragedy.

Alcatraz isn't really that far from land, about a mile away. They have events where you can swim to and from it. The currents make it dangerous, but the distance is unremarkable.

Most people cannot swim a mile.

All the same every year > 2,000 people attempt the 12 mile swim to see a cute Quokka on Rottnest Island.

* https://rottnestchannelswim.com.au/

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rottnest_Channel_Swim

  The 36th annual Rottnest Channel Swim will be held on Saturday, 21 February 2026.

Mind you, that's largely Australians who grow up swimming more than many US Navy SEALs do.

Come on down, the waters fine, the sharks rarely nip.

I'm suprised to see a HN comment along the lines of "most people don't ...", after all, most people don't program computers, start million and billion dollar companies, build out datacentres, fly planes, ... etc. The site is littered with people confidently doing things most people do not.

Worth noting that the water in San Francisco can be up to ~20 degrees colder than the water off the coast of Australia. Which adds to the difficulty some.

Sure, there are also a number of cold water long distance swims - the English channel is famous, the Tasmanian ones less so .. but they're cold, long, and have some wicked currents depending which one you take.

* https://www.iswimhappy.com/tas

* https://www.derwentriverbigswim.com/

The Rottnest swim is just a long warm bath for those that like to dip a toe in and start easy.

To the best of my knowledge few ever attempt the horizontal falls even at slack tide - the waters are warm but the salties and the sharks can be off putting .. come tide change the stoppers will eat people.

> than the water off the coast of Australia.

I should note that Australia is a large continent with an area equal to that of mainland contiguous USofA .. it's not all Gold Coast Qld, just as the US is not all Florida.

Eg: the current water tempreture in San Francisco ( 12.5°C / 54.5°F ) is on par with the September water tempreture when surfing offshore breaks in southern Western Australia (not Perth, the south coast where all the fun is).

I am way, waaaay more afraid of box jellyfish than I am about sharks in Australia's waters, though I'm sure that's an equally rare occurrence?

If you're a regular to the Australian beaches and headlines I visit you'll see a shark every week .. sometimes daily - and after five decades of swimming once a week if not daily you might get brushed up against once or twice - but it's unlikely you'll be bitten.

You will, however, almost certainly know or meet someone that can flash the scars of a bite.

Shark bites - rarer than the headlines make out.

_However_ shark behaviour may well be changing due to increased human waste changing ocean patterns: https://theconversation.com/4-shark-bites-in-48-hours-how-wh...

Jellyfish - seasonal and locational. There are areas where you just shouldn't go in the water for a couple of weeks. Nasty.

Melbourne's currently got a bloom of lion's mane jellyfish that'll leave a welt (tingly red strip on the skin) for a couple of days.

* https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-19/lions-mane-jellyfish-...

As far as sea misadventures go, easily the funniest thing I've seen (sorry, we're like that, laughing at danger) was a young kid surfing with a pod of dolphins getting fully pancaked by a breaching dolphin that cleared a wave top, made serious air, and landed smack centre on the kid and his board.

He (the kid) got winded pretty hard, did get his (damaged) board back, and was laughing about it afterwards.

The dolphin was not available for comment.

( Addendum: Dolphins being cheeky is more common than reported in W.Australia - here's one that did get captured on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa7dSv3NBB0 )

Those are not normal average people but literally top 1%

Humans also aren't good swimmers, and we assume all land mammals are as bad as us.

Don’t make assumptions about my assumptions. :)

Is it really only a mile? There are coyotes on islands in Washington that would’ve swam further than that through some strong tidal currents.

Half a mile

It's definitely a mile from the closest pier as the crow flies, a mile and a quarter from land.

Depending on the current, actual swim distance will be closer to 1.4-2 miles since it'll drag you out of a straight line.

There are local clubs which swim from the island on a regular basis, year 'round. If not absolutely daily, several times a week.

Water temps vary by time of year, but are particularly mild from late summer through late fall. Even winter-time temps aren't particularly challenging. A dog could easily make the swim.

Currents are a challenge, but mostly if you're planning on landing at a specific point along the shore. If your goal is simply to make it to shore, they're far less an issue. Just swim cross-channel and you'll make it.

The physiological and psychological challenges are greatly overblown.

I love the visual of humans desperately trying to preserve what they consider the natural world, and when they turn their backs evolution does it's thing.

Nit: If predators periodically make their way to the islands without human assistance, don't the islands have native predators, by virtue of how we've woven ourselves into the definitions?

No, because the predators themselves aren't native.

No because the predators would not survive doing so from their distant original lands. New Zealand is far enough away for this not to be a problem - otherwise it would have happened in the historical past. At least until continental drift brought New Zealand close enough to other land mass. Whether the species then alive would have evolved enough to survive is unknown.

It's a 1.5mi swim.

I remember visiting Angel Island (a 0.5mi swim) and seeing the abundance of raccoons they have, and asked a ranger how they got there. They also swam.

Growing up on a lake I would regularly watch deer swim the quarter mile back and forth between the shore and a nearby island, with no problem.

made me wonder if that's why the adjacent strait is called racoon strait, but apparently not (HMS Racoon)

https://angelisland.org/history/ayala-cove/

At a minimum! We don’t know where the coyote started from.

For all we know the Coyote could have been from Oakland or Sausalito.

I would be surprised if the Coyote would be quick to get back into the water after such a difficult swim. It would, I suspect, want to recover and find food. So I support the theory the Coyote is just hiding somewhere. The island is small but not that small that it couldn’t hide somewhere.

Yeah, the article was pretty confusingly written.

When they explained why it hadn't been found, the quote was "I suspect the coyote was swept away...", but then later in the article it seemed clear the 'swept away' was in reference to the SF->Alcatraz journey, given the prevailing currents reported by the boat captain.

But then later in the article they re-stated the idea that it had been swept away _off_ the island, which doesn't really make sense given the currents.

Video shows the coyote out of the water on Alcatraz and walking through the rocks. If it can find food and fresh water it should be OK.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br4-VsvRcII

Once it got up on shore, the coyote looked pretty tired and seemed to be shivering quite a bit. Not surprising!

article linked from video: https://coyoteyipps.com/2026/01/14/coyote-swims-to-alcatraz/

If you time things right, and don't get swept out to sea, it's the 54 degree water that is the real danger. I'm no medical person, but it sure seems like that the animal is suffering from hypothermia and fatigue. I'm sure it'll have happy hunting once it recovers.

That’s insane. He’s the David Goggins of coyotes. Also, that water is cold as hell this time of year. I couldn’t do that. Give him a metal and enter him in the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon (I assume he can ride a bicycle?)

I love swimming in the Bay. It's exhilarating to get into the cold water, especially when you get into a rhythm. And you feel great afterwards. Just make sure you've got a plan to warm up after wards (read up on "after drop")!

Almost anyone who is swimming for more than 15-20 minutes will be wearing a neoprene wetsuit and cap to keep warm (maybe a fur coat counts). The water temperature is 54F right now, and mid 60s in the Summer/Fall. There's a real risk of going into hypothermia at these temperatures.

The first time I tried it, the shock of the cold winter water made me swim faster in panic, which quickly winded me, and I was glad to get out of there! I had to learn to slow my breath and ease into my swim stroke.

I also found the open water disorienting. It's hard to swim in a straight line when the tide is pulling you, or the wind is pushing you, or the sun is in your eyes.

But if you want to give it try, there is a protected cove at Aquatic Park [0] with a dedicated swim lane and a great community. An informal group meets in the bleachers every day around 1-2pm (sunniest time of day), with everyone taking turns to watch your stuff.

There are also two (private) clubs that organize events (like the Alcatraz swim): the Dolphin Club (1] and the South End Rowing Club [2]. The clubs are nice because they have lockers and a sauna to help you warm up after.

It's not always fun (maybe it's type 2 fun?). A lot of the time it's frustrating. Like, why do my goggles keep filling with water? or why can't I get into a flow today? Or why do I keep having this intrusive thought that I can't see what's under me? (There have been a few seal bitings). Or sometimes it feels like I'm barely moving and I don't know why I'm dragging so much. Did the current/tide/wind change? If I don't sleep well, I feel it immediately in the water. It's a good gauge of your health/mood on that day. I got a lot out of it.

[0] https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/historyculture/aquatic-park-p...

[1] https://serc.com/swimming

[2] https://dolphinclub.org/swimming/

I wonder if a turtle drowned halfway across.

I didn't think anti-bot stuff could get more annoying but to sit there and hold a button for like 20 seconds straight with nothing else on the screen to look at is incredibly boring and annoying and I gave up and left the page 3/4 of the way through it.

i knew i couldn't trust a coyote to mind my sack of flour

That roadrunner thought he'd be safe hiding out on the notorious prison island...

Poor coyote's ACME Portable Hole opened up into the middle of the bay.

Poor thing, talk about going in the wrong direction :)

Impressive though.

If a Coyote could do it, all those famous escapees must have had too.

Super genius!

aw poor baby

I really like the coyotes here.

Only dumbass mfs who let their pets off leash (I live in Pac Heights, you're supposed to have a leash on your dog at Lafayette Park and yet every day I see morons letting their dogs off leash OUTSIDE THE DAMN DOG PARK AREA. FUCK OFF!!!!) or let their small children go without supervision where they're not supposed to are at risk.

The worst part is that the authorities will put down the coyote (for being a coyote) and I hate reading stories about coyote culling.

Life would be so much better if morons were fined and eventually displaced into oblivion for making dumbass decisions that could have been easily avoided if they were not so negligent.

But yeah its nice to live in a city with cool nature like that. We have parrots, raccoons (there's a little family of them living near my home), coyotes, owls, hawks. Love it!

I recently spent a few days photographing wildlife just north of SFO. Your coyotes are so small and adorable compared to the coywolves we have here in the Northeast. I was actually focusing on bobcats, but I got some great shots of coyotes too. https://imgur.com/a/V8yarK4

yes they're really cute :3

i do feel bad for the cats they sometimes eat, but unless they're strays house cats should not be let outside. otherwise, nature always wins.

Wild animals are going to do what they do. I certainly understand wildlife management programs, but I've never understood the vilification of animals like coyotes, at least in modern times.

The Chili Peppers long ago settled the ethics of coyote culling, but your attitude is cavalier and thoughtless.

For those of us living in suburbs, young children running just a few steps ahead (e.g. from the house to the other end of the driveway) can be in significant danger from coyotes.

Your hyperbole and cursing are not a great match for this forum and you should reconsider them or leave.

Be a better parent then. Sounds like a skills issue on your end.

The article speculates that this coyote might attempt to establish a pack on Alcatraz, by calling until a mate makes the same 1.5 mile swim in treacherous cold water.

I wish everyone the best of luck here, but I can't shake the image of the lonely guy unwittingly calling young females in proestrus to their likely deaths. An appropriately gender-swapped Coyote Siren of Alcatraz.

Maybe female coyotes are smart enough to understand SF Bay tides and currents, or just to ignore the crazy loud guy. I sure hope so.

It seems too good to be true, honestly. The idea that this is how nature works, that it is indeed so metal, and it is actually just we, puny humans, who find the swim so treacherous in the pursuit of lust and eventually love. I’d swim to Alcatraz for pussy, if it was the only pussy for hundreds of kilometers around. I suppose.

Alcatraz being the last place on Earth I would expect to see such savage beauty is of no consequence to the fact that it is we, humans, who make Alcatraz so treacherous. Mother Nature sees it as an opportunity to breed hella puppies.

On the other hand, he's certainly proved his physical fitness by completing the trip.

Well I don't mean to hope for his loneliness.

I guess I hope that not too many suitresses are lost to the passion before he finds his mate of elevated luck and/or constitution.

Any resulting pups are going to have to make some difficult decisions though.

(Actually, assuming he's alive and found, relocating him is probably the most humane option)

Right, I don’t know much about coyotes but it seems like Alcatraz Island is too small and too touristy for a coyote to breed there.

Most of the island is off-limits to tourists. It's administered by the National Park Service.

Coyotes are territorial and usually have fairly large ranges. Alcatraz is small, but probably big enough to keep a breeding coyote pair well-fed and mostly out of the way of humans.

But the younguns will need their own territory after a year or so, and needing to cross the Bay to Marin or SF City would be have very low rates of success!

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