Update: Duluth Area Woman Gets Apple Watch Back From Beaver
Last week, I shared the story of a Duluth area resident who had lost their Apple Watch while swimming in Keene Creek in Duluth, with a beaver complicating her efforts to retrieve it.
Well, the person who lost their Apple Watch reached out to me to give an update on the situation. The good news is the watch has been retrieved! Here's the story.
Wait, how did this person lose their watch to a beaver?
A young woman from the Twin Ports area was swimming in a deep spot along Keene Creek in Duluth when her Apple Watch came off at some point.
She explained that she and some friends had been jumping off the rocks into a roughly 10-foot swimming hole along the creek, enjoying their day, when they noticed a beaver make an appearance nearby.
Not wanting to tangle with the beaver, they quickly rushed out of the water when the furry creature dove into the water from the shore.
After getting out of the water post-discovery of the beaver, the woman noticed her watch had fallen off at some point while swimming.
The woman said she wouldn't have had a problem swimming around to try to retrieve the watch, but she was concerned about the beaver that was patrolling the area.
The beaver held its territory, keeping the woman from making a self-retrieval attempt. Not knowing what else to do, she put the call out on Reddit for a diver who might be able to help, offering to pay for their services.
Some people joked on Reddit, saying the watch is a lost cause and that it now belonged to the beaver. Despite that, someone stepped up and made a recovery attempt.
A recovery operation under the cover of darkness
Over the weekend, the woman reached out to me after seeing that I had shared her story to give an update that someone launched a successful recovery mission over the weekend.
She explained that a diver contacted her via the Reddit post she shared last week, offering his services. He is apparently familiar with the area and was ready for the mission at hand.
In what I'd like to imagine was a SEAL Team-like recovery mission, the diver embarked on his recovery dive after sunset - around 9:30 pm last Friday night.
While the beaver was not visible at the time of the dive, the diver's efforts under the cover of (relative) darkness were successful. He retrieved the watch and avoided encountering the beaver at the same time.
I am certain it was far less dramatic than my imagination wants it to be, but considering the quirky nature of this whole story, I am hoping the diver did what I would have done and totally pretended he was conducting a big covert military or spy diving mission.
Not only did the woman get her Apple Watch back, but she informed me that it still works!
Even better, the diver refused payment. The woman said she offered to pay him for the dive, but he wouldn't accept any money.
It's a happy ending for the woman and a quirky story for both her and the diver to be able to share.
Shoutout to the kind diver for helping this young woman get her watch back without accepting any kind of payment. Whether he did it just out of the kindness of his heart or for the story, either way, stand-up move, sir.
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Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper
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