The animal was about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) from shore

Oct 13, 2015 21:00 GMT  ·  By

If you're gonna make a wish on pigs doing wondrous things, don't go for flying ones. Rather, settle for swimming porkers. Apparently, pigs might still be a long way from learning how to take to the sky, but they sure know their way around the open sea. 

Don't believe us? Check out the video below to see for yourselves. Fair warning: this might just have you scratching your heads for a couple of minutes.

When boars go swimming in the open sea

The footage below was shot in the waters off the coast of Italy earlier this year and then shared on YouTube in late September. However, it was only sometime these past few days that it went viral.

The video shows a group of fishermen sailing the open sea without a care in the world only to happen upon a boar. Not that this needs mentioning, but boars are usually land dwellers.

Well then, imagine the fishermen's surprise when they found this plump fellow splashing around like a fish, perfectly at home out at sea. Mind you, the crew say that, when they discovered the boar, it was about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) from shore.

Worry not, they didn't simply abandon it

Rather than sail the other way, cross their fingers and hope that the boar would eventually find its way back on land, the fishermen decided to lend it a helping hand.

They somehow managed to get it aboard their boat and then carried it all the way back to shore. It was a long trip, but the animal didn't cause any serious trouble. Most likely, it was too tired to put up a fight.

Once back to shore, the fishermen released the animal in a forested area near the city of Ginosa. Happy to feel the dirt under its hooves, the boar darted through the trees and disappeared from sight.