Freya the Walrus

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About

Freya the Walrus is the name of a 1,300-pound wandering Arctic walrus that was euthanized by the Norwegian government on August 14th, 2022. Prior to her death, Freya the Walrus had wandered the waters of the North Sea, visiting the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021. In June 2022, Freya's antics, primarily climbing on the back decks of boats, received viral attention and were widely reported on and discussed on social media platforms. The decision to euthanize her led to much backlash and outcry online, similar to other events such as the killing of Harambe the gorilla in 2016.

Origin

Freya was first spotted and named in November 2019, when she was discovered taking a nap on a Dutch navy submarine. The submarine happened to be a “Walrus class” vessel, and Freya’s visit coincided with the protest-dominated climate summit in Glasgow that year — leading some to joke her act was a protest.^[1] While walruses are native to the Arctic, they have been recorded visiting northern European waters since at least the Middle Ages. Freya, however, was the first walrus spotted in the Netherlands in 23 years.^[2]

From there, Freya continued to wander around the North Sea, attracting attention wherever she went. Rune Aae, a doctoral student in science didactics at the University of Southeastern Norway, made a map tracing Freya's travels (seen below).^[3]

In late 2021, Freya began appearing in tweets with notable engagement for the first time,^[11] but in late June 2022, the walrus first started trending on Twitter as photos and videos began discussing her in larger numbers.^[12]

Spread

2022 Stay in Kragerø

Freya became a sensation in the Norwegian media in June 2022 when footage of her napping on small boats in the vacation town of Kragerø, Norway was picked up by major news outlets.^[4] The tweet below by @steinkobbe on July 19th, 2022, celebrating Freya's arrival received over 116,000 likes in two months.^[6]

On June 24th, 2022, a woman living in Kragerø reported witnessing a half-hour altercation between a swan and a large animal in the middle of the night, which resulted in the swan being pulled underwater. While unconfirmed, many suspected Freya had fought the swan and the incident became a part of the lore surrounding her.^[5]

2022 Oslo Visit and Death

On July 17th, 2022, Freya was spotted in waters outside Norway’s capital city of Oslo. She quickly attracted the attention of tourists and human visitors, who the Norwegian government told not to bother her. Zoologists and biologists expressed concern about Freya’s condition, arguing that she likely was unable to sleep her required 20 hours a day due to high levels of human disturbance.

In the days following her arrival, Freya caused property damage on several boats. But the Norwegian fisheries office declared that euthanasia was “out of the question.” However, Norwegian authorities later backtracked, warning they might have to euthanize Freya if people did not give her enough space.^[7]

On the morning of August 14th, Freya was then euthanized. Details of her death have not been shared with the public, although the Norwegian government assured journalists it was "humane."^[8]

International Outcry Over Freya's Euthanasia

Freya’s August 2022 euthanization led to an outpouring of support for the walrus both in Norway and internationally. The country’s Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, defended the killing of Freya by saying it was “right” and “sometimes we have to make unpopular decisions.”^[8]

The Fisheries office, which killed Freya, reported that it made the decision out of concern for human safety. Freya, who was over six hundred kilograms, swam in waters frequented by human bathers and at one point chased a woman out of the water.

Other options, such as drugging Freya and transporting her to a remote area, were considered by the Fisheries office but dismissed.

Freya’s death also led to the creation of memes, such as this one from Reddit’s /r/PoliticalCompassMemes on August 14th, 2022, which received over 2,600 upvotes in a day.^[9]

Tweets, such as an August 14th one by Twitter user @Unpop_Science that received almost 7,500 likes in one day (shown below), blamed humans for Freya’s death, calling her a “climate refugee”^[10]

Freya the Walrus Statue

A Norwegian fundraiser to create a statue memorializing Freya was started the week following her death. By August 17th, 2022, the fundraiser had generated over $22,000 USD for the construction of a Freya statue, exceeding its goal. Over 1,350 people supported the fundraiser, whose stated goal is to "remind ourselves (and future generations) that we cannot always kill and remove nature when it is 'in our way.'"^[13]

Autopsy

An autopsy conducted after Freya's death concluded that she was in good health and had died immediately upon being shot in the head. Nothing was found in her stomach, so it remains unknown what she ate while swimming around slo Fjord. The records of the autopsy were released to the press on September 1st, 2022, when it was also announced that Freya's skeleton had been given to the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway where it will be stored but not exhibited to the public.^[14]