Mr. Worldwide: Walrus falls asleep on Arctic iceberg, ends up in Ireland
“I’ve seen pictures of him sent to me by Seanie Murphy, the ex (coxswain) of the lifeboat, and I’ve confirmed he is a walrus, not a seal with a toothache.”
A walrus has been spotted on the shorelines of western Ireland, believed to have drifted there on an iceberg from the Arctic, possibly after falling asleep.
It's an exceptionally rare occurence. According to the BBC, citing the Irish Dolphin and Whale Group, it represents the third such sighting in Ireland since 1999.
Local Alan Houlihan and his five-year-old daughter Muireann spotted the walrus Sunday while on a morning walk around Valentia Island, the Irish Independent reports.
“Muireann is the David Attenborough of Valencia Island,” Houlihan told the publication, adding the walrus is "huge, huge, he’s about the size of a bull or a cow."
Kevin Flannery, director of Dingle Oceanworld, confirmed the sighting to the Independent.
“I’ve seen pictures of him sent to me by Seanie Murphy, the ex (coxswain) of the lifeboat, and I’ve confirmed he is a walrus, not a seal with a toothache,” Flannery said.
“... He would be pretty tired and pretty hungry at this stage. That is usually what happens to them is that they fall asleep on an iceberg and then get carried off from the Arctic.”
Experts are urging the public to give the walrus some space so it can build up strength for its journey home.
Walruses are social animals, typically found in groups. You'll most commonly find them in Arctic and Suc-Arctic regions of the world, in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans.
Thumbnail image: File photo courtesy of Pexels.
