The melting Arctic ice may be a reason for the exotic appearance of Freya, a female walrus who arrived on the Netherlands’ shores in August 2021. She became a draw for visitors and media, exuding a certain charisma, even a sense of melancholy, being so far from home. Sadly, her subsequent reappearance in Oslo harbour in Norway proved fatal. The authorities felt forced to have her shot in the interests of public safety.
A hooded seal pup born on Vlieland. Hoekendijk’s camera captures the character of the islands as much as his scientific work adds to the body of knowledge about these time- and sea-worn places. The result is a record of an ever-fluid environment – often brutal, always beautiful; fragile and tough – that lies on the brink of drastic climate breakdown. And yet, perhaps, against all the odds, the resilience of these animals, on these islands, at this time, can offer us a tentative sense of hope.
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