On August 14, the last day of the walrus "Freya" living on the blue planet of Earth, this big guy, named after the Nordic goddess of beauty and love, could no longer snooze in the sun on the seashore and swim back to the sea where it was conceived, because it was euthanized by the Norwegian Fisheries Agency. The reason given by the Norwegian authorities is that onlookers ignore warnings to keep their distance from Freya, so it threatens human safety. When Freya appeared in a fjord near Norway's capital, Oslo, two months ago, no one could have imagined that the story of the walrus would end in such a tragic way.
In June, when Freya traveled from the Nordic country of Sweden to neighboring Norway, it was still a little well-known walrus. This species typically lives in the Arctic regions of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia, as well as in temperate waters near the Arctic, living amphibious life both at sea and on land.
According to statistics, there are currently about 225,000 wild walruses in the world, including about 25,000 Atlantic walruses and about 200,000 Pacific walruses, most of them live in groups, hunt in the sea, tired will take a nap on the ice floes, drift with the ice to the next predatory place, and also climb up the coast to gather in groups and sleep for more than ten hours.
Adult walruses are large, thick-skinned, and have tusks, but their eyes are small and their vision is poor, they are sensitive by nature, and they swim easily in the water, but they are clumsy when they come ashore. Freya is a female walrus weighing about 600 kilograms, and for some reason, she has no companions around her.
For the past two years, Freya has been operating in the North Sea between continental Europe and the United Kingdom, along the Norwegian coastline all the way north to the waters near the Arctic Circle, and then south to return to the waters around the North Sea. Tracking by Rouné Oé, a professor of biology at South-East University in Norway, shows that in addition to Norway, Freya has lived in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
In March of this year, "Freya" left Denmark for the Swedish coast, where she lived for a while, and on June 11 it reappeared on the southern coast of Norway. At that time, "Freya" was found sleeping on a dinghy, and her huge body pressed the back half of the dinghy directly into the water. Even if driven away by the locals, it would still swim back and climb into the dinghy to sleep.
On July 17, Freya appeared in the fjord waters near The Norwegian capital Oslo, a popular destination for locals on summer vacations. "Freya" was unsurprisingly watched, often appearing in the local media reports, the Norwegian "Way of the World" even set up a camera for all-weather live broadcast. As photos and videos of "Freya" circulated on social media, it became an "internet celebrity" walrus.
As the "elephant chasing" trend heats up, more and more people come to see "Freya" up close, and "Freya" seems to be very calm about the sudden fame, and the crowd of onlookers has not touched its sensitive nerves - at least it seems.
Professor Ruené Oe, who has been tracking Freya, said that the last time a walrus appeared in such a south-south North Sea water was in 2013, and that Freya's appearance in the Oslo Fjord is rare and therefore more concerned. Moreover, Freya does not seem to be afraid of humans, so even if people watch and take pictures at close range, it is not frightened or leaves.
"Freya" does not lack the potential of "internet celebrity". The Dutch Navy also tweeted about Freya last October, when it climbed aboard a Walrus-class conventional submarine to take a nap and hitchhiker. The tweet said, "The Dutch Navy's Walrus-class submarines are more walrus-like than we thought, and Freya chose to embrace it!" ”
Wandering the coast around the North Sea for a long time, the reason why "Freya" lives in isolation has aroused speculation. Recently, high temperatures have swept through much of Europe, as well as the Nordic region, with temperatures in the Arctic Circle soaring to 32.5°C at one point in July, according to Sky News. Rising summer temperatures in the Arctic have led to a decrease in sea ice, and some believe that Freya climbs on human vessels frequently, perhaps as "ice floes."
However, after all, "Freya" weighs 600 kilograms, and it climbs on some small boats to press the hull into the water, and the weight is directly sunk. It was reported that the owner of the damaged vessel had claimed compensation from the insurance company, but the damage to the walrus was not covered.
With the popularity of "Freya", people who take photos are getting closer and closer to it, and some people follow "Freya" in the water in a motorboat, just to get a close look at the "Internet celebrity". This has raised concerns about the safety of humans and walruses, and the Norwegian Fisheries Agency said at the end of July that Freya was in good condition and could stay where she was, but at the same time warned people to keep their distance from Freya and not to feed or throw things so that it would not be frightened and attack humans.
But curious people chose to ignore the warnings, with a photo released last week by Norwegian agencies showing a group of people standing around Freya, within easy reach of both sides, including children. A spokesman for the Norwegian Fisheries Agency said that people took close photos and even swam with "Freya", and the walrus did not get enough rest, "it was stressful". Plus, it sometimes chases kayaks. But according to the New York Times, Freya chased after the human vessel because people often threw things at it.
Norwegian Fisheries Director General Frank Barker-Jensen issued a statement on the 14th, saying, "Through on-site observations over the past week, it is clear that the public has ignored the proposal to keep a distance from walruses." As a result, the likelihood of potential harm to humans is high. Based on this "logical" judgment, the Norwegian Fisheries Agency arrested Freya and euthanized her.
Buck Jensen said other options, including moving Freya out of the fjord, had been considered, but concluded that the animal's well-being could not be guaranteed by any possible means. He declared that the decision was correct based on a comprehensive assessment of the continuing threat to human security, and that "the safety of human life must come first".
The Norwegian Fisheries Service's approach was indeed regrettable, with Professor Runé Oé stating that the decision to euthanize Freya was too hasty and "completely unnecessary". Sooner or later, he said, "Freya" would leave on her own, as she had done before. Moreover, with the recent changes in the weather in the Oslo Fjords, the number of holiday onlookers has decreased after the end of the summer, and people and walruses will return to their respective tracks.
Many netizens expressed their anger on social media. Some netizens said: "Killing 'Freya' is unforgivable!" This gentle walrus didn't hurt anyone, and those who ignore the warning should be ashamed! Some netizens posted: "'Freya' has gone to many European countries, but has never been threatened with death, how can Norway kill this beautiful and interesting creature... This incident caused great damage to Norway's reputation. ”
Another netizen said: "Last winter, 'Freya' spent a month in the Shetland Islands (in the United Kingdom), but today she was murdered, and the Norwegian Fisheries Agency's assessment is untenable." An animal protection group called the Blue Planet Society posted on social media that "it's not euthanasia, it's more like a murder." Killing 'Freya' was a bad decision in Norway. ”
Freya didn't make it through the summer, but there are still 25,000 of its companions living in the Atlantic waters near the Arctic, who are still migrating, preying and breeding along the coast. Despite the slow growth of walrus populations, the species is still listed as a "vulnerable species" on the IUCN Red List, with climate change being the biggest threat, with reduced sea ice forcing them to land more and intersecting more with humans, testing people's ability to live in harmony with nature.