A Walrus Defending Her Cubs Sank A Russian Navy Boat In The Arctic Ocean

Humans have long known that it's inadvisable to mess with Mother Nature. And, as a group of researchers from the Russian Geographical Society just learned, it's also apparently inadvisable to mess with a mother walrus.

The scientists were aboard a Russian Navy tugboat known as the Altai on an expedition to the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic Ocean this week right before the unusual human-animal interaction occurred. They boarded a small rubber landing craft and were en route to the shore to study its flora and fauna when a female walrus attacked, sinking the vessel.

"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," the Russian Military's Northern Fleet said in a press release.

The Russian military appeared to be flying a drone above a group of walruses on a nearby beach to take scientific photographs, which may have spooked the animal, igniting its maternal defense instincts. A gallery posted by the Northern Fleet following the incident shows images of walruses gathered on the Franz Josef Land.

And, while the attached report makes no mention of a navy boat sinking, it does note 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."

According to National Geographic, walruses near the Arctic Circle can weigh in at as much as 1.5 tons, reaching between 7.25 and 11.5 feet – twice the size of a human. And while these animals are not naturally aggressive, they will use their massive tusks to defend themselves from larger predators.

First published on September 24, 2019 / 12:28 PM

© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.