Russian Navy Boat Gets Sunk by Angry Mammal

A Russian Navy vessel was apparently sunk last week by an ill-tempered walrus, CBS News reports. Researchers on an Arctic tugboat had boarded a rubber landing craft for shore when the marine mammal attacked. "During the landing at Cape Heller, a group of researchers had to flee from a female walrus, which, protecting its cubs, attacked an expedition boat," said the Russian Military's Northern Fleet. Per CNN, the fleet adds that "serious troubles were avoided thanks to the clear and well-coordinated actions of the Northern Fleet servicemen, who were able to take the boat away from the animals without harming them."

The Russian Geographical Society (RGO) adds simply, "The boat sank, but the tragedy was avoided." Indeed, USA Today reports that all crew members scrambled to shore. Seems a Russian military drone snapping scientific pics of walruses had upset the assailant. At the time, Russia's Northern Fleet and the RGO were on a join expedition in the Franz Joseph Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean to make glaciological findings and look at the region's flora and fauna. "Recently, we wrote about the risks that accompany expedition members," the RGO says. "Wild animals, storms, low temperatures. The incident is another confirmation that no one is expecting humans in the Arctic." (More Russians stories.)