Arctic sailors see an animal stranded on a wobbling iceberg
It isn’t every day that we get to be heroic. Even arctic fishermen and women, who spend large amounts of their lives out in extreme conditions, often do not have the task of rescuing animals. But for three crabbers, that is exactly what happened.
It was just a normal day on the Atlantic Ocean.
Three friends and co-owners of a fishing boat, Mallory Harrigan, Cliff Russell, and Allan Russell of Newfoundland and Labrador, were out on their typical day of catching crabs. They do this together often and enjoy scouting the waters for creatures and sights. They are used to seeing lots of icebergs around them but were not prepared for the sight they saw that day.
When these fishers saw something strange, they knew they had to investigate.
In the distance, they noticed that one of the icebergs had a creature huddled on it. At first, they thought it was one of the typical sea animals, such as a penguin, a seal, or a polar bear. They were used to running into these creatures in the wild and knew to always keep a respectful distance. But on further investigation, they realized that this was something else.
It was an arctic fox, and it needed help.
Arctic foxes are native to their area, but they are land creatures. An arctic fox on an iceberg means that it had gotten there by accident, probably while trying to hunt for some food.
Alan Russell told CBC News “We seen something on the ice. Wasn’t sure what it was. So we got up closer to it. It was a little fox, Arctic fox. And he wasn’t very big. He was soaking wet, and the gulls was trying to pick at him.”
Arctic foxes are not able to swim, and the iceberg looked like it was going to collapse into the ocean soon. The fox was freezing and needed help to get back to safety.
So the team of fishers stepped up to save the fox.
Although the fox was scared of people at first, the team did all they could to ensure getting him to safety. When the fox could not be tempted into the boat, the team knocked down the ice he was resting on and fished him out of the water with a net.
The crew gave the fox V.I.P. treatment, including feeding him Vienna sausages.
Once in the boat, the fox was still cold and scared. Even more: he was really hungry. The fishers warmed him up by creating a bed out of sawdust and tried to feed him. While they first tried to feed him chips and crackers, they found out that he preferred Vienna sausages!
The crew brought the fox to port and nursed him back to health for a few days. After a few days of eating Vienna sausages on the boat, the crew freed the fox in a seaside nature area. They moved him to an old dog house in William’s Harbour, Newfoundland, and he was free to leave as soon as he wanted.
The fox is now much better off, all thanks to this kind fishing crew!
While the fox did eventually learn to trust the fishing crew, he is really meant to live in nature. The fox is now free to roam as much as he likes, far away from icebergs and humans. The last time the crew saw him, he was walking away towards safety, but looking back at them as if to say goodbye.
Check out the video below of the fox’s new life, and his heroic rescue!
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