Several days after getting stuck on a floating iceberg in the Baltic Sea, a dog was rescued by a ship crew—and has since been adopted by the group.
The sailors on board the Baltica were accustomed to seeing seals on icebergs out in the middle of the Baltic Sea. But the one they spotted on January 25th looked a little different—for one thing, it had four legs.
As the ship drew in closer to the iceberg, the sailors discovered that the odd-looking seal was, in fact, a dog. Stuck out there alone in the freezing cold, the poor German Shepherd mix was scared out of his mind.
“He didn’t even squeal. There was just fear in his big eyes,” one of the sailors, Adam Buczynski, told The Daily Mail.
Several days earlier, the dog had walked onto the ice on Vistula River in Poland. The ice broke off and drifted more than 70 miles out to sea. The stranded animal been spotted in two different locations by sailors, but the ice made it too dangerous for anyone to get to him. It seemed likely the poor dog would freeze or starve to death out there—but three days after the first sighting, a science vessel caught sight of the dog.
This time, conditions were good enough to attempt a rescue, but it wasn’t easy. The dog fell into the water several times, but finally made it on board the Baltica ship. When the ship arrived in port, a veterinarian inspected the dog, and found that he was in great shape despite his ordeal.
News agencies got the word out about the dog’s miraculous rescue, but no owner came forward to claim him. So, the Baltica’s crew has decided to adopt him as the ship’s mascot, and has named him Baltic. The ship is setting sail again on February 10th with Baltic on board—and his new friends will be careful to make sure he stays off the ice this time around.