Bird plunges into California reservoir ‘glory hole,’ video shows. But did it survive?
It almost looks like something out of a children’s movie.
A bird floating on Lake Berryessa in California’s Napa County starts to drift inch by inch toward a gaping hole in the body of water — a spillway called a “glory hole” that lets excess water cascade down an 18-story chute, SFGate reports.
Before the bird knows it, the glory hole swallows the animal whole, as if the wild animal is a river-faring cartoon character caught off guard by an approaching waterfall, video shows.
“Holy crap,” someone in the background says after the bird disappears into the spillway — and as the greenish water continues to rush into the shaft after the animal.
Tori Junes Fowler posted the video on Facebook Monday, where it’s been seen tens of thousands of times. But the video was posted along with an encouraging message.
“Duck took a wild ride but did make it out on the other side!” Fowler wrote.
Others were less optimistic about the animal’s survival.
Brionna Ruff, a Bureau of Reclamation spokesperson, said “I don’t want to get really graphic” but “the chances do not look good for the ducky,” SFGate reports.
Ruff said the water goes down fast and at high pressure — not to mention the 18-story drop off, SFGate reports.
Melissa Vignau of the Solano Irrigation District agreed, saying the bird must have died, ABC10 reports.
“The velocity of water going through there would have torn it in pieces,” Vignau said, according to the TV station.
But Rick Fowler, a Lake Berryessa water resources manager of 11 years who recorded the video, said the animal survived — and that it’s a cormorant, not a duck, according to The Guardian.
After catching the bird on camera, Fowler said he went to the dam’s edge to investigate, the Guardian reports.
“Thwack — it shot out of there like a bullet,” Fowler said, according to the newspaper. “It looked like a rag doll — like it was dead.”
Fowler said the bird then flew to a calm spot on the water and shook itself off, The Guardian reports.
“Nobody ever thinks of anything going down that thing and being able to survive,” Fowler said, according to The Guardian. “But he survived, all right. I watched it.”
The Morning Glory Spillway — the more formal name for the glory hole — empties into Putah Creek, and helps keep Berryessa Lake water levels in check behind the Monticello Dam, CBS13 reports. The spillway is known to be dangerous, and not just for birds. In 1997, a Davis woman died when she was sucked into it, according to the TV station.
This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 4:33 PM.
