The sun glinted off waves on an Alaska beach when Violet Anniskett, 19, spotted what looked like four dead walruses. One smaller body was heaving, and its eyes opened. The five-month-old male calf, later named Annautaq after Anniskett’s Inupiat father, had no mother in sight. Polar bear prints and sea gulls surrounded him on Sept. 11 near Point Lay and the Chukchi Sea.
Anniskett called Anthony Fischbach, a U.S. Geological Survey wildlife biologist she was shadowing as an intern. The 185-pound calf was too heavy to lift, so they guided him away and made walrus sounds to calm him. He followed them to an abandoned building, even climbing into Fischbach’s sleeping bag that night.
Annautaq became only the 12th calf successfully rescued in the Alaska Sea Life Center’s 30-year history. Lacking walrus formula, they fed him honey mixed with water. After a $100,000 flight quote proved too costly, the center chartered a plane and sent him to SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., a rare success in rescuing a motherless baby walrus.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing