Fishermen Spot Animal On Iceberg, They Get Closer And Freeze When They See What It Really Is

Thought She’d Seen It All

She squinted, trying to figure out if what she was seeing was real. Despite her many encounters with wildlife in all her years as a fisherwoman, this was something she had never seen before. She couldn’t even understand how it was possible.

But she had to shake off the surprise and take some action. They hatched a plan to rescue the creature and set it into motion. But this mission was going to be harder than any of them thought.

Fearless

Mallory Harrigan sees a lot of action in her day-to-day work. After all, she is a commercial fisherwoman–one of the hardest and most dangerous occupations a person can have.

From hauling nets weighing hundreds of pounds to dealing with some of the least forgiving weather on the planet, commercial fishing is not for the weak of heart. Luckily for Mallory, the people she works with have her back.

And they’re also willing to go the extra mile for other creatures.

Family Business

Mallory, her boyfriend Cliff Russell, and Cliff’s brother Alan own a boat called the Northern Swan. This commercial fishing boat usually hunts for crab around the coast of Labrador, in the eastern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Their main catch is snow crab, a species of crab prized for its sweet, delicate flavor. But fishing for this type of catch comes with its challenges.

And though the Northern Swan’s crew thought they’d seen it all, they were about to be proved wrong.

A Changing Climate

The snow crab’s habitat is the North Atlantic and the North Pacific–where the waters are icy and frigid. The snow crab fishing season begins in May, when the winter ice is finally starting to break up, allowing fishing boats to sail safely.

But climate change has brought a curveball or two to the industry. Ice takes longer to melt and break in some areas, forcing fishermen to wait and lose precious time.

That’s exactly what happened this year, and it led the Northern Swan to an unexpected adventure.

Not A Normal Day

“We were off to a late start,” recalls Mallory. “But there had been an unusual amount of ice that prevented us from getting out.” When they finally set sail on June 22, they immediately headed for Pincent’s Arm, a small coastal town where they’d be able to fuel their gear.

It was a pretty routine route for them but, unbeknownst to them, this day it was going to be different. When they were approximately 4 miles from land, they spotted something unusual on a piece of floating ice.