Sorry it took me until this morning to talk about the bear sighting. Thanks Kurt for posting it.
Yesterday about 6:30 pm I was driving past the park entrance on 30A and not too far before the bridge (I think near the Ranger house), I spotted a medium/large sized black animal lope quickly across the street, heading south. At first I thought it was a giant, ungroomed, black standard poodle, or some kind of dog, but it wasn't running quite right and it had larger hind quarters. Then I realized it was a bear! I was blown away. I've lived here for about 14 years and have seen lots of animals (deer, coyote, fox, beaver, pigs, snakes) but this is my first bear sighting.
As soon as it crossed the road and went a little ways into the brush it stopped to hide. I drove back and spotted it again for a second before it hid deeper in the bushes.
I know that some people might freak out at a bear sighting, but I am glad to see wildlife still thriving in SoWal. The last beaver I saw near/on 30A was almost 10 years ago (and it was roadkill).