Baltic Rescue: Stray Dog Survives 75-Mile Journey on Ice Floe in Poland
by Danny Davids(40)Polar icecaps are melting. The polar bears are running out of ice. I'm guessing that if you make those comments to Baltic, he'll respond with a shake of his head and a low growl. Who's Baltic? He's the stray male dog that a group of Polish ocean research scientists rescued from an ice floe in the Baltic Sea.
It's believed he started his odyssey at least 75 miles away, somewhere upstream along Poland's Vistula River. Firefighters in the town of Grudziadz noticed the dog floating on the ice last Saturday. Several attempts were made to rescue him, but shifting ice sheets prevented it. By the time the crew of the "Baltica" discovered him a few days later, he was 15 miles out in the Baltic Sea.
A rescue opertion commenced, but things didn't go smoothly. The dog kept slipping into the water, somehow managing to climb back up onto the ice. At one point he disappeared under the water's surface, and crew members thought he might have drowned. Yet the determined dog resurfaced and struggled onto another patch of ice. Finally a pontoon was lowered into the frigid waters and a crew member was able to grab the dog by the scruff of the neck and pull him aboard.
Given the nickname "Baltic" by the crew, the dog was dried, warmed, and fed. As soon as the ship arrived in port, he was taken to a veterinarian who pronounced him frightened but friendly, in excellent health and probably five or six years old. Given that the area was going through a severe cold snap with temperatures well below freezing, and his numerous unscheduled swimming episodes, it's a miracle the dog survived.
Now that the ship has docked in the port city of Gdynia, the crew has been searching for his owner. While several people have identified themselves as the dog's owner, Baltic has given no indication he recognizes any of the individuals who have come to claim him. The crew has decided that if Baltic's rightful owner cannot be found, they will adopt the canine they rescued.
Article submitted Friday, January 29, 2010 & read 1372 times.
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