The Killing of Walrus Freya

[Manateeman]

I’m very pleased to let forum members know that kindness, compassion and respect for our fellow mammals has not entirely disappeared from the planet.
A tidal wave in social media is sweeping over those responsible for the senseless killing of Freya. Hopefully some officials / politicians will be washed to sea.
I worked for two Norwegian corporations and know the decision absolutely does not reflect the way corporations in Norway see the environment especially anything to do with the sea. Almost every child knew Freya is the goddess of love and beauty in Norwegian lore. Marine mammal scientists knew Freya would leave Oslo on her own and return north so there was no need to transport her. This despicable killing was totally unnecessary.
A very sad day indeed. Mark and the manatee crew.

[thesaltytar]

[emoji106]

Good. It seems that if officials had enough time to sit around and consider this then there wasn't a clear and present danger to human life, and they had the time to actually think it through but didn't.

Very sad.

We had Stellar sea lions all around the docks when I lived in Kodiak, Alaska. None of them got gunned down. They built a floating concrete island for them to go and lay and sun on. Everyone was happy.

I didn't think we would be the ones setting examples in something like this.

Thank you for the update.

[ahun]

Norwegians don't seem to lose much sleep over some trivial wild animal killings.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...servation-zone

[clownfishsydney]

Seems to have been a very harsh answer to the problem. But then, I think they also kill other marine mammals.

[Tetepare]

It's for the children.

Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries said Freya was put down in a humane manner early Sunday “based on an overall assessment of the continued threat to human safety.”

[Manateeman]

Do you mean it was necessary to protect the children? Because a lot of people who brought their children down to the sea wall to see the walrus are furious with this decision. So they are tucking the kids in bed and the children ask if they can go see Freya again. “ oh no sweetie, they had to shoot Freya because she could possibly have hurt someone”
My sister who is a child psychologist might be able to tell parents how to handle the situation but the psychological harm to many children certainly now exists and for what reason. There were a lot of people looking at the walrus and a lot were children. Do you think Freya was going to climb out of a dinghy and attack because she thought she was surrounded by ice bears..?
Walruses sleep a lot. It’s what they do best. Freya wasn’t a threat to anybody.
Killing this mammal was world class stupidity.
Please don’t compound it by endorsing it.
The manatee crew

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

Do you mean it was necessary to protect the children? Because a lot of people who brought their children down to the sea wall to see the walrus are furious with this decision. So they are tucking the kids in bed and the children ask if they can go see Freya again. “ oh no sweetie, they had to shoot Freya because she could possibly have hurt someone”
My sister who is a child psychologist might be able to tell parents how to handle the situation but the psychological harm to many children certainly now exists and for what reason. There were a lot of people looking at the walrus and a lot were children. Do you think Freya was going to climb out of a dinghy and attack because she thought she was surrounded by ice bears..?
Walruses sleep a lot. It’s what they do best. Freya wasn’t a threat to anybody.
Killing this mammal was world class stupidity.
Please don’t compound it by endorsing it.
The manatee crew

Norway has had a very dubious record of supporting whaling when most of the world was against it.

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

Do you mean it was necessary to protect the children? ............Freya wasn’t a threat to anybody.
Killing this mammal was world class stupidity.
Please don’t compound it by endorsing it.
The manatee crew

I simply quoted Norwegian authorities. They are the ones who said the animal was endangering humans.


OK, I added the preamble "It's for the children" because that's a common Karen phrase for knee-jerk reaction to solving perceived problems...and usually it doesn't actually get to the root of the problem. But it appeases concerned housewives.

Now whether you or the Norwegian authorities are correct I cannot say; you're in bipolar disagreement, according to what I read.

I'd not heard about the event until you posted it, so I read some articles. My take-away is that the PEOPLE were endangering themselves, so the item of their curiosity had to be eliminated. Can't have idiots endanger themselves, now can we?



One thing is for certain- those authorities didn't think very far ahead and underestimated the reaction. Doh.

[Manateeman]

Well the manatee crew has no idea what whaling has to do with killing Freda but they always enjoy the subject of marine mammals.
First, they would like to point out that the opinion of the majority of Norwegian citizens is not always that of the Government of Norway.
A good example IS whaling. Last year somewhere around 600 whales were killed.
That’s the bad news. What’s the good news. Whale meat is disappearing from the diet of most Norwegian people. Less and less consumption, especially in younger people, translates to a slow death of the industry. So the whale huggers are just letting the industry self destruct and fade away.
So...let’s see, where were we. Freda is dead. Maybe the careers of a few bureaucrats are dead too. Freya’s death might help bring better education about marine mammals into schools everywhere. More pressure to stop whaling? Not sure about that but...kids who wake up their parents because they are having a bad dream about the bad men who killed Freda...that might get the ball rolling.
Well I hope everyone got to read what I wrote about Orcas.
Happy trails to you.
Captain Mark and the manatee crew.

[Sailing55]

Freya was "put down" over "concerns for her welfare" and the risk to crowds according to officials.
Killing wild animals for their own welfare is typical double speak being spoon fed to the masses (mob).
Someone please explain to me how killing Freya the walrus, who was loved by so many, contributed to her welfare.
I wonder if they murdered her in front of a group of children? For her own welfare if course...
And no doubt she was killed in a humane manner. I wonder how you kill a living being "humanely"...

[fourlyons]

Originally Posted by Sailing55

Freya was "put down" over "concerns for her welfare" and the risk to crowds according to officials.
Killing wild animals for their own welfare is typical double speak being spoon fed to the masses (mob).
Someone please explain to me how killing Freya the walrus, who was loved by so many, contributed to her welfare.
I wonder if they murdered her in front of a group of children? For her own welfare if course...
And no doubt she was killed in a humane manner. I wonder how you kill a living being "humanely"...

"I wonder how you kill a living being "humanely".

Really? People believe they're doing it all the time when they put down they're suffering pets. Not to mention, most of us are aware of some pretty inhumane ways to kill a living being.

[Gadagirl]

I'm surprised by this as well as questioning.

So to play devil's advocate she did charge some people on a few occasions. However there were no efforts to my knowledge to try to relocate her. There were no efforts, other than suggestions, to keep people away from her.

Here in the US they close down beaches to keep people from harm of sharks. The recent reports of orcas have caused governments to enforce no go zones. Here they kill a bear if it's been aggressive enough to attack a human but otherwise relocate it or warn humans of their presence.

I'd just like to see the reasoning against relocating her as opposed to killing her. Is it really true that she'd likely just return? Heard reports that she's been spotted in other countries previous to her last location. She hadn't returned to those locations. So what are the facts of it all?

[Manateeman]

Walrus behavior is rather simple. A young female, alone, will not “charge” at a human. The response is to get back in the sea.
Males in a group will protect little walruses if the group spots an ice bear.
Two people, one in a kayak, one on a paddle board felt the walrus displayed an aggressive look not any aggressive behavior. Guess Freya gave them the stink eye. LOL And of course they stayed far from this walrus and certainly did not wake Freya up...sure.
Manatees are moved by marine mammal scientist all the time. Freya would have just gone back home as the weather got colder. This unnecessary killing was simply a less costly solution.

[Sailing55]

Answer the question, please. How does one kill "humanely"? How could any rational person accept the act of killing to be humane unless it is to end horrific suffering.

[AKA-None]

Doesn’t matter if you agree with the killing or not it was done directly because stupid people did stupid things and got to close even when they were told not to. And because they brought their children in close proximity they directly caused this outcome