The historically frigid February weather has produced an abundance of out-of-the-ordinary sights, including one for those aboard a US Coast Guard cutter in Boston Harbor.
Crews were breaking and chipping away at the ice clogging the harbor when they spotted a coyote in the middle of the frozen water.
“They were there on the boat, and the coyote was just out running on the ice,” said Petty Officer Myeonghi Clegg, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard in Boston.
Clegg said she wasn’t sure how far out on the ice the coyote was when it was spotted darting across the frozen harbor in Quincy, but crew members had enough time to capture the image on Feb 20, and later share it on Facebook and Twitter.
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The photo shows the animal in mid-stride, dashing through the snowy ice.
Clegg said the coyote isn’t the only wildlife the Coast Guard has encountered this month.
During a recent voyage smashing chunks of ice so that ships delivering goods and heating oil can gain access to Boston Harbor, crews spotted a deer stuck in the ice.
To assist the animal, a 65-foot Coast Guard cutter inched close enough to break through some of the ice. Clegg said the deer was then able to free itself and run back to shore.
Coast Guard members have been deployed to Hingham, Quincy, the Fore River area, and Boston Harbor in recent weeks trying to keep the shipping channels accessible.
“They have been out there everyday keeping the lanes open,” Clegg said.
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.
Because of incorrect information provided by the Coast Guard, a previous version of this story listed an erroneous date for the photo of the coyote.