Beachgoers at remote Marmara beach in Sfakia, on the southwest coast of Crete, were treated to an unusual sight Thursday when a vulture landed amidst them and appeared to settle in among the sun loungers.
The large bird appeared exhausted and, as footage from the beach showed, unable to fly. Its unexpected presence initially caused some commotion, but the mood soon shifted as swimmers and sunbathers watched the wild bird move along the shoreline.
Marmara is a small, relatively isolated beach known for its rugged natural beauty. Despite its remote character, it attracts large numbers of beach-goers during the summer, making the encounter all the more striking.
The sighting is the latest in a series of unusual encounters between Greece’s wildlife and people visiting popular coastal areas this summer. Repeated appearances of wild animals near beaches and tourist destinations, ranging from sharks spotted close to swimmers in the Saronic Gulf and Corinth Gulf, to a three-meter mako shark near Anavyssos, southeast of Athens proper. A sperm whale was also filmed close to the shore at Kamena Vourla, on the eastern seaboard in central Greece, after appearing several times in the area.
