Duck swallowed by giant glory hole 'survives 200ft fall'

Viral video sparks debate about bird’s fate, but witness insists it flew off after fall

Bird heading towards reservoir drain (Facebook / Tori Junes Fowler)

The moment a lone duck was sucked into a 200ft-deep drain at a reservoir in northern California – and reportedly survived – has been captured on video.

Known locally as the “Glory Hole”, the giant spillway is designed to capture excess water at Lake Berryessa reservoir in Napa County.

Rick Fowler, the lake’s water resources manager, filmed the bird as it drifted towards the fast-swirling vortex and dropped down into the hole.

Mr Fowler’s cousin Tori Fowler then posted the video to Facebook with the caption: “Duck took a wild ride but did make it out on the other side!”

The viral video sparked a debate about the fate of the bird, with some experts predicting it must have died, but Mr Fowler said he saw it survive the 200ft fall.

The reservoir manager ran over to the edge of the dam, where the Glory Hole deposits the excess water, and watched the waterfowl fly off to safety.

“It shot out of there like a bullet,” he told The Guardian. It looked like a rag doll – like it was dead.”

Mr Fowler said the drenched bird – which he believes was actually a cormorant – shook off the water and flew towards a safe spot on the creek.

Brionna Ruff, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the spillway, had told local press the distance of the fall and intensity of the water pressure had probably killed the bird.

“The chances do not look good for the ducky,” she told SFGate.

But Mr Fowler insisted the waterfowl had lived to fly another day. “Nobody ever thinks of anything going down that thing and being able to survive. But he survived, all right. I watched it.”

The reservoir’s drain, officially referred to as the Morning Glory Inlet Structure, has been emptying water following heavy rains in northern California.