How Can You Tell If Your Boat Is "Walrus-Worthy?"
Norwegian boat owners find out the hard way that climate change is upon us
It’s been said that a boat is “a hole in the water into which one pours obscene amounts of money.” Now imagine that, in addition to all the normal expenses of boat ownership, you have to consider…wait for it…walrus-proofing your boat??
That’s what boat owners in the quiet harbor of Kragerø, Norway, just to the west of Oslo, now have to contemplate, thanks to a 700-kg. (about 1500 lbs.) walrus named Freya.
All Freya wants is a place to relax and lounge in the sun, and she’s decided that boats work pretty well for that. She just hasn’t grasped that most boats in Kragerø’s small harbor aren’t quite “walrus-worthy.”
A hefty and charismatic walrus named Freya is winning ardent fans and her share of haters after taking up residence in Norway harbors and hauling her 1,500-pound self up to lounge on boats.
This has been a problem for boats that are “not walrus-worthy,” as German broadcaster Deutsche Welle put it in a video shot back in June. The video highlighted some of Freya’s finer moments in the town of Kragerø, where she spent some time earlier this summer. Two boat owners told the news outlet that they wanted Freya gone.
Many people, however, have had the exact opposite reaction to Freya’s antics and have flocked to the harbor to see the tusked icon in action. Unfortunately, both forms of attention have been stressful and overwhelming for her. More recently, she’s been hanging around Oslo, where the crowds are just too much.
Life in Oslo has been too stressful for Freya, who prefers a slower pace, which seems to be why she’s enjoying Kragerø’s harbor so much. Unfortunately, that enjoyment isn’t being shared by those who moor their boats in Kragerø’s harbor.
Part of the problem is that Freya has become a cause célèbre. She needs to rest up to 20 hours per day, and the attention she’s getting makes that impossible. It increases the stress on her, especially with TV crews in boats encroaching on her space on a regular basis.
Combine that with boat owners in Kragerø harbor using hoses to keep Freya away from their boats, and she’s dealing with a lot of stress she’s not used to.
She’s developed quite a following on social media, though.
Of course, all of this is cute (unless you’re a boat owner in Kragerø harbor, of course), and it makes for a good human interest story. Beyond that, though, there’s a more serious issue to be considered.
Freya’s usual home is near or north of the Arctic Circle. Kragerø harbor is well below that on Norway’s southern tip. With all of the other deleterious impacts of global climate change, is Freya’s odd migratory pattern indicative of an inability to find adequate food? Is it a lack of sustenance that requires the walrus population to roam farther afield than usual during the summer?
So while Freya the walrus is damaging boats in quiet harbor of Kragerø, we’re left to wonder if the world’s governments are willing to do what needs to be done to save the planet from the worst impacts of global climate change.
As CO2 atmospheric concentrations push inexorably towards what scientists consider to be the critical threshold of 350ppm, governments fiddle as Rome- and the rest of the world- continue to burn. Europe is suffering its hottest summer in decades as wildfires ravage the continent. In the US, heat waves in the South and along the East Coast are becoming far more common.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re in the midst of a 10-day heat wave with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees. Last June, Portland hit an all-time high of 117, with a three-day stretch of temperatures of 115 or above. To call that unusual for this part of the country doesn’t begin to do it justice. But it seems we’re becoming hotter and drier.
In the 40+ years I’ve lived in Portland, air conditioning has gone from a “nice to have” luxury to, in some cases, the difference between life and death for vulnerable senior citizens. Erin and I put central a/c in our house four years ago (I called it an investment in my peace of mind), and we have a subterranean basement which seldom gets above 65 degrees, regardless of the outside conditions. We’re quite fortunate; last June close to 100 people- mostly seniors- died from the heat in Portland and Multnomah County.
So, yeah, “f**k shit up, Freya.” enjoy your romp in Kragerø harbor. I hope you’ll get the rest you deserve. In the mean time, I hope humanity and the governments we elect to represent will remove their collective anteriors from their posteriors and realize that we’re rapidly killing the only planet we have.
There is no plan(et) B.
By the way, I read somewhere (and of course, do not have the citation) that window AC's are a more economical way to go. This is because you're only cooling the room(s) you are using, rather than the entire house. If you have the money, you might also look into installing a heat pump. In addition to being very effective, they use significantly less electricity than standard HVAC units.
I feel sorry for the boat owners. I expect more than a few of them use their boats professionally and can scarce afford a 3/4's of a ton of squatter. And walruses are not notoriously good-humored; some idiot is going to go in for a selfie with Freya and discover what 1500 lb's + tusks can do to the human body.
I hear and agree with everything you’re saying, but ... but ... FREYA!!!!!!!!