Freya, a young female walrus, rested on a boat in Frognerkilen in the Oslo Fjord of Norway in July.
Freya has been lounging on boats and eating mussels in Norway, but authorities have started to worry about her presence.
Norway has warned that it may have to kill a walrus named Freya out of concern that the 1,300-pound animal could harm the delighted onlookers who have been unable to stay away from her during her summer visit to the country's coast. People have been swimming close to Freya, throwing objects at her and posing for pictures with their children, Vegard Oen Hatten, a spokesman for the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, told The New York Times on Friday. If that doesn't work, there is a possibility that a controlled operation can be put in place to put the animal down, said Hatten, the agency has warned people to stay away from the walrus. He said there are other possible solutions, including moving Freya out of the area, while noting that killing Freya would be a last resort. There hasn't been a final decision.
There seems to be no urgent reason to leave for Freya. She has plenty of food in the form of scallops and mussels, and she is too young, at 5 years old, to give birth to a calf, Mr. Aae said. Female walruses generally give birth at around 9 or 10 and the animals can live to be around 40. She is having a wonderful time on her holiday down here, Mr. Aae said. Walruses are social animals and rarely venture anywhere alone, which may be why Freya seems to like being around people. She is not afraid of us, Mr. Aae said. Maybe she thinks we are her flock. For at least two years, Freya has been spotted off the coasts of Britain and various European countries, including the Netherlands and Denmark.
Freya is on her way back to where she belongs, according to experts. But finding her way may be difficult, because Oslo Fjord, where she was most recently spotted, is a dead end on the way north. She first has to go back south, down to Denmark to cross over to Britain before she can go back north. She has to turn around, and so far she hasn't done so, Mr. Aae said. She doesn't have a map, she doesn't know it's a dead end. It is not unusual for a walrus to show up in northern Europe, and similar incidents have occurred before. Dan Jarvis, director of welfare and conservation at British Divers Marine Life Rescue, said that at least one walrus can be seen in European waters for the most years. Another walrus, Wally, showed up off the coast of southwest England for about six weeks last year and climbed up on boats in a busy area of the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago of more than 150 islands. Local officials provided him with a floating dock to lie on because he destroyed the boats with his roughly 1,760 pound weight. There, too, people got too close and took pictures with him, causing potentially dangerous situations and leading to calls for his removal.