Northern Michigan Couple Captures Majestic Deer Enjoying a Dip in Straits of Mackinac

It's not every day that you see a deer taking a swim. But one Northern Michigan Couple grabbed a camera when they spotted the animal taking a dip in the Straits of Mackinac.

Angie and Dave Morthland live in Mackinaw City. The retired couple tells the Detroit Free Press that they were sitting outside when they noticed the animal in the water with a Great Lakes freighter providing a backdrop.

"We were sitting outside on our chairs, and I tapped Dave, and said: 'What the heck is that?'" Angie Morthland tells the paper. "A deer had just gone in the water and started swimming. It didn't look right at first. We thought, is that a moose? Is that an otter? We got the camera out and binoculars and saw it was a deer."

The couple went on to say it was "astonishing to watch" and didn't indicate that the deer was in distress.

The couple says they are divided on whether the deer was a buck or a doe.

Angie Morthland shared the photo with the Facebook group MightMac.org. - The Mackinac Bridge & Straits of Mackinac.

It would have been really nice to see a video, but the other hand the picture is rather calming and zen, wouldn't you say?

The couple noted that they watched the animal for about an hour.

"Every time it came toward shore, it would get spooked and swim back out into the straits," Dave Morthland said. "It was in the water at least an hour and a half before we got tired of watching it."