Walrus Uses Tusk to Puncture Rubber Raft, as Russian Crewmen Attempt to Deploy it Near Franz Josef Land, Arctic Circle

In a puzzling video posted to Twitter, a male walrus uses his tusks to puncture the flotation devices surrounding a Russian small boat as it is lowered into the Arctic sea near Franz Josef Land.

"What are you doing?" asks a puzzled Russian sailor. It appears that the Walrus wanted to prevent the boat from being deployed, as he damages it badly. A second walrus, also with tusks, looks on during the action.

It's unclear why the marine mammal would behave in this manner. But some on twitter suggested the attacking walrus was defending it's young, the other walrus. Both male and female walruses have tusks, though the males have larger tusks.

"We have a new idol after the shark, it's a walrus 💙😄" tweeted @namsan105. "A walrus drove away Russian tourists and made a hole in their boat near Franz Josef Land." The reference is to a shark which last year, ate a Russian tourist swimming in the Mediterranean Sea near Egypt.

Franz Josef Land is a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It is inhabited only by military personnel. It constitutes the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast and consists of 192 islands, which cover an area of 16,134 square kilometers (6,229 sq mi), stretching 375 kilometers (233 mi) from east to west and 234 kilometers (145 mi) from north to south. It is 85% glaciated and the northernmost land in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Link to the video: https://x.com/Namsan105/status/1706400074434072693?s=20