FISHERMEN SAVES EXTRAORDINARY CREATURE STUCK ON FLOATING ICEBERG
Life at sea brings new beauty as well as challenges to nature.
Fishermen, Mallory Harrigan, Cliff Russell, and Allan Russell, sailed out a few miles offshore from Labrador, Canada on their crab-fishing boat, The Northern Swan. Their trip soon became more interesting when they came across something quite extraordinary.
They spotted a small creature stuck on top of a small, mushroom-shaped iceberg that was drifting helplessly out to sea. At first, the crew thought it might be a seal. However, the fishermen soon discovered that it wasn't a creature designed for swimming. They had found a starving and terrified Arctic fox. The poor fox was soaking wet and cold, and being attacked by circling seagulls.
Harrigan said that; "It had probably got stuck out there looking for a meal. Cliff says he thinks he got out there to check out a bit of meat on the ice and it broke apart, sending the cute fox out to sea."
Mallory and her crew-mates decided that they had to do what they could to try to save its life, after knowing that the poor fox was doomed to a terrible fate. The crew managed to lure the fox aboard by pulling their crab fishing boat alongside the iceberg. "He was trying to run away from us at first, so we had a tough time getting him aboard. We had to break the ice he was on and get him with the dip net. He fought and fought to get away until he literally couldn't move anymore."
As the scared Arctic fox safely boarded the boat, the crew made a makeshift bed and began to nurse him back to health. "We scooped him up, and he retreated to the corner. He was too weak to do anything when we brought him aboard; he slept most of the way! When we came to, he was a bit nervous, but once we fed him, he was pretty calm."
"He wouldn't eat at all for the first 5 or 6 hours. We gave him chips and crackers, but he didn't want anything until he woke up, and we fed him a tin of Vienna sausages," continued Harrigan.
A couple of hours later, after they arrived back to shore with the well-rested and full-bellied fox, the beautiful creature was released back into its natural habitat.
The crew member's kind act saved a member of the local wildlife. Mallory added that she still sees the fox around from time to time.