Pieces of glaciers and icebergs have been floating out into the oceans forever, just ask the Titanic. It's not necessarily that it hasn't always been happening, but that the rate of breakage and ice melt is increasing.
Animals don't necessarily understand that and it can seriously endanger their lives if luck doesn't go their way.
They were sailing The Northern Swan about 4 miles offshore when they spotted an iceberg with a wide top balancing on a narrow stalk. It was clear that the top could collapse at any moment.
But as their boat got closer, they realized it wasn't a resting seal, but a cold, furry animal that definitely wouldn't survive when the ice collapsed.
They pulled the boat up beside the ice and tried to coax the fox to climb down, but eventually they had to use their net to get it off the ice.
Mallory told Bored Panda:
"We scooped him up and he retreated to the corner. He was too weak to do anything when we brought him aboard, he slept most of the way! When we came to he was a bit nervous but once we fed him he was pretty calm."
For the first few hours, he refused to eat, huddling and sleeping in the crate. As he dried out, his white, fluffy fur was revealed.
With a full belly and probably a growing understanding that the humans were there to help, it made itself cozy.
Arctic foxes are similar to polar bears in that they have black skin to attract and trap warmth from the sun and white fur for camouflage.
Along the barren coast of Labrador, they discovered an old abandoned dog house and decided to let him loose there.
Mallory told The Dodo that they've seen him around and he looks healthy.
"We're glad to have saved an animal. We can still see him from time to time!"
h/t: Bored Panda
