The Florida Keys is one of the most scenic places in the country.
But there is sometimes trouble in paradise.
And a fisherman could not believe his eyes when he made this scary discovery in the Florida Keys.
A massive group of vultures were discovered floating in the Gulf of America
Captain Brandon “Bean” Storin took a group out charter fishing trip in the Gulf of America off Islamorada in the Florida Keys.
They made a shocking discovery during their fishing expedition.
Nearly 150 turkey vultures were floating in the water and looked like the group had just fallen out of the sky.
Most of the birds were dead but Storin and the fishing group decided to try to save the rest.
“We were all on the same page. Like, let’s help these birds,” Storin told Outdoor Life. “And as soon as we put the net in the water, they would reach their beaks out and grab on the rim of the net and then pull themselves onto it. Then the rest of the survivors were trying to swim towards the boat.”
Vultures falling from the sky in the Gulf of Mexico near Islamorada.
They rely on warm air currents, or thermals, to stay airborne and if the wind shifts suddenly stop, this can happen.
[📹 Capt. Brandon Storin / bean_sportfishing]pic.twitter.com/j6fdShZW4L— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 21, 2025
They collected as many vultures as they could with the net and went about their day fishing.
Vultures soaked in the sun and their feathers dried out as they rested on the boat.
The fishing charter went after cobia and tripletail in the Gulf.
“At the next spot, I see a pack of cobia, so I throw the bait right in front of them and one of the guys hooks up,” Storin recalled. “But now the guy has to follow the fish around the boat, and he’s trying to jump over these birds to get to the fish. It was hilarious.”
The mysterious reason the vultures fell from the sky
Storin dropped the vultures off on a small key that had freshwater after the fishing expedition was done for the day.
He heard from veteran sea captains that situations like the vultures found themselves in are known to happen from time to time.
The vultures were likely carried by the wind into the Gulf of America and got off course.
“They said what happens is, these birds like to soar over the Overseas Highway and Islamorada during a north wind … They’re not really great flyers, they’re more like gliders, and they’ll get in these thermal pockets and just kind of soar,” Storin explained. “What happened here was the wind rapidly switched and went from north to east to southeast.”
The wind was blowing at around 15 to 20 knots and simply carried the vultures off course.
“I remember thinking to myself, the wind’s all over the place, and it was like the perfect recipe for disaster for these birds,” Storin said. “Because after that shift, the wind just cut out completely.”
The wind cut out on the vultures, and they did not have the energy to make it back to land.
They simply gave out and fell into the Gulf.
Storin said the birds were about five miles from land when he discovered them floating in the water.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.