An Australian shepherd, just a year old, embarked on an epic 241-kilometer journey across the Bering Sea. During this adventure, it was bitten by either a seal or a polar bear but managed to return safely to its Alaskan home.
The dog, Nanuq, owned by Mandy Iworrigan who resides in Gambell, Alaska, went missing during a family visit to Savoonga, another community on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Strait, as reported by the Anchorage Daily News. This disappearance occurred alongside the family’s other dog, Starlight.
Starlight returned a few weeks later, but Nanuq, whose name translates to polar bear in the Siberian Yupik language, was still missing.
Residents of the town of Wales, situated 241 kilometers from Savoonga on Alaska’s western coast, started posting images of a stray dog on the internet about a month after Nanuq’s disappearance.
Iworrigan’s father messaged her saying, “There’s a dog that resembles Nanuq in Wales.” She then logged into her Facebook account to verify if the dog could be Nanuq. She exclaimed, “Unbelievable! That’s our dog! What is he doing in Wales?”
The details of Nanuq’s journey will probably remain unknown forever.
Iworrigan speculated, “I’m clueless about how he ended up in Wales. Perhaps the ice moved while he was hunting.”
Nanuq was flown back home on a charter flight that was transporting athletes for the Olympic tour of young people from the Bering Strait.
Despite a swollen leg with large bite marks presumably from an unknown creature, Nanuq was in relatively good health.
Image credit: Shutterstock
