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  • 2020-12-09 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Fishermen Rescue an Animal from an Iceberg? (en)
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  • Since at least August 2019, the viral content website CarNovels advertised a viral story about fishermen on a crab fishing boat, an iceberg, and an animal. The online advertisement was hosted by the Taboola advertising platform and bore the headline, Fishermen Think They Found A Seal Floating On An Iceberg, Then They Take A Closer Look. A variation of the ad claimed: Fishermen See Animal On Iceberg, But Then Look Closer. The ad also included an image that was posted by one of the boat's crew members: Another variation of the ad read: Fishermen Are Surprised After Seeing What's Sitting On Iceberg. Once readers clicked on the ads, they landed on an 80-slide story with the headline: These Fishermen Noticed Something Unbelievable Atop An Iceberg... What Was It? It detailed the story of a fishing boat crew that found an Arctic fox on an iceberg. We were a bit surprised to find that this story about the fishermen (and one fisherwoman) finding an animal on an iceberg was true. The crew was from South Labrador in Canada. On Dec. 9, 2020, we reached out to one of the crew members, Alan Russell, who told us that the use of the word unbelievable was perfect. We've seen far too many misleading stories that similarly appeared in online advertising, so it was refreshing to find a genuine tale. In July 2018, a crew of fishermen and a fisherwoman in a crab fishing boat named the Northern Swan approached an iceberg with an animal on it. They first thought it might be a seal but when they got closer they realized it was an Arctic fox. They found the Arctic fox on the iceberg 4.5 miles (7 kilometers) offshore. They couldn't be sure how it got there. CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, reported: People.com also reported that Mallory Harrigan, Cliff Russell, and Alan Russell were on the boat. After the Arctic fox left the iceberg, they scooped him up after he had grown tired from swimming. The crew could tell that the Arctic fox hadn't eaten in quite a while, so they fed him vienna sausages and water. The Dodo also reported on the story, saying that the crew gave the Arctic fox an old doghouse on William's Harbour. As of 2018, he lived on a small island. National Geographic published that Arctic foxes can survive incredibly cold temperatures: It's possible that the Arctic fox was following a polar bear to eat leftover scraps, a characteristic mentioned by National Geographic. However, CBC reported that Alan Russell, who was on the boat, figures the fox was probably looking for food on solid sea ice and then got caught when it broke up. In July 2020, Harrigan addressed the whereabouts of the Arctic fox, two years after they first rescued him. An Instagram commenter asked if there were any recent photos, and Harrigan answered: Unfortunately no! We were hoping he was going to stick around for a while but believe it or not he went right back into the water and swam off to another island! He was spotted in a nearby community shortly after this happened back in 2018, but we haven't seen any foxes since! In sum, yes, a crew of fishermen and one fisherwoman rescued an animal from an iceberg. It turned out to be an Arctic fox. (en)
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