Missing Alaska dog found after crossing 150 miles of sea ice
Last updated on: 14 April,2023 12:14 pm
Iworrigan posted a video to Facebook showing Brooklyn's emotional reunion with her beloved pet.
ALASKA (Web Desk) - A dog who went missing from on an Alaskan island was found nearly a month later, after crossing about 150 miles of sea ice to the mainland.
Mandy Iworrigan, who lives in Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, said she and her children were visiting the town of Savoonga elsewhere on the island in March when two of their three dogs, Starlight and Nanuq, wandered off with her uncle's dog, Ghost.
Iworrigan said Ghost is well known for vanishing into the wild for weeks at a time and coming home safe, but she was worried about Starlight and Nanuq in the tundra.
Iworrigan said it came as a shock when Starlight showed up on the family's last day in Savoonga, 37 miles from home, two and a half weeks later, while her daughters were playing outside.
The mother said Starlight was safe, but there was no sign of Nanuq, a 1-year-old Australian shepherd who had a close bond with her 8-year-old daughter, Brooklyn.
She said she was in for another shock about a week later, when her father texted her to say people were posting photos in a Facebook group for Nome-area residents of a dog that turned up unexpectedly in the Seward Peninsula town of Wales -- 150 miles across the Bering Sea ice from St. Lawrence Island.
Iworrigan said Nanuq might have gotten thrown off course when sea ice shifted while he was hunting for food. The dog was found with a swollen leg bearing a pair of bite marks from an unknown animal, but was otherwise in good health.
Nanuq was able to hitch a ride home on a charter flight carrying schoolkids to the Bering Strait School District's Native Youth Olympics tournament.
Iworrigan posted a video to Facebook showing Brooklyn's emotional reunion with her beloved pet.