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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Officials urge leaving walrus in peace

A team of experts from the state fisheries directorate decided this week to end their observation of a walrus named Freya, who’s been bobbing up along Norway’s southern coast all summer. She’s dirtied and damaged several boats, most recently puncturing a rib boat anchored off an island west of Oslo, but isn’t in any danger herself.

“She’s doing well, she’s eating and then resting through the day, and appears to be in good shape,” the directorate claimed in a press release. Since the public has also now been warned repeatedly to keep their distance from her, officials now just hope she’ll be left alone.

“She’s a wild animal weighing around 600 kilos, who isn’t necessarily as sluggish and clumsy as she may appear,” the directorate warned. “We therefore strongly advise against swimming or paddling in areas where she’s been observed.”  They firmly rejected one marine biologist’s suggestion that she be shot, since she’s not in her natural habitat so far from polar waters.

The walrus was back in Oslo this week after spending the weekend in the fjord off suburban Bærum.

NewsinEnglish.no staff

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