Echidna Spotted Paddling and Blowing Bubbles Across Tasmanian River

Nothing about an echidna’s slender snout or spiky exterior suggests their avid swimmers. But an October 2015 video that re-emerged on social media shows they’re more comfortable in water than one would expect.

Ashley Hallam, an amateur photographer in Tasmania, was on a fishing trip with his daughter when he saw the jagged Australian mammal trying to cross the Swansea River on the east coast.

Hallam said it must have paddled a good 140 metres, blowing bubbles from its snout the whole way through, before finally making it to land and shaking itself off. Credit: Ashley Hallam via Storyful