was he butterflying or breast-stroking?

;)

oh, my point was not that a bear can't get to an island but that water creates a natural distance barrier.

1 -- a bear is less likely ("less likely," not "absolutely unable and unwilling") to make the effort to cross that barrier without motivation, i.e. some food smells. As in, you're less likely to get an accidental visitor that happened to be in the neighborhood and decided to drop by.

2 -- that barrier creates distance that mitigates (again, we're talking percentages) the chance that weak food smells will reach the bear's nose. 

And yes, I know they smell great distance and travel great distance ... and I know that "educated" bears will cruise campsites. Of course, from all the chatter on this forum, my sense is that that happens more in BWCA than Quetico.

-- kypaddler

But shoot, I bet watching that bear swim WAS an eye-opening experience.