The walrus was spotted on Glanleam Beach on Kerry island, Ireland. Image: Screenshot/Twitter
You know those times when you’re exhausted and driving somewhere on a long trip? You blink and suddenly realize that you have no recollection of the last 20 miles. How did you do it? You somehow managed to pilot a metal box on wheels over a winding road with other metal boxes on wheels flying by just feet away, and you did it all without realizing you were doing it. Now, you’ve missed your exit and you’re 10 miles past your destination. Well, something similar appears to have occurred to an Arctic walrus that somehow crossed the Atlantic Ocean and ended up in Ireland.
According to the Irish Examiner, the walrus was first spotted by Alan Houlihan and his 5-year-old daughter Muireann. They were walking together on Glanleam Beach on Kerry Island when they saw the lost creature posted up thousands of miles from home.
“Myself and my daughter were out walking on the beach down near the lighthouse,” Houlihan told the Irish Examiner. “He breached out of the water onto the rocks and gave us a bit of a show. I thought it was a seal at first and then we saw the tusks. He kind of jumped up on the rocks. He was massive. He was about the size of a bull or a cow, pretty similar in size, he’s big, big.”
Footage captured by Alan as he and 5 year old Muireann watched on, captivated by the unexpected visitor to their island. pic.twitter.com/WqhoJMEo2E
— JennïeØSullivân (@OSullivanJennie) March 14, 2021
Houlihan is correct in saying that walruses are big — they can weigh as much as 1.5 tons and grow to nearly 12 feet in length. One marine biologist proposed a theory about how the animal might have ended up so far away from the Arctic. It’s possible that it was on an iceberg that broke apart and drifted towards Ireland, some 3,000 miles.
It’s not the first time this has happened, although it is exceedingly rare. The first confirmed record of a walrus showing up in the region was way back in 1897. Right now, it’s not clear if anything can be done to get the walrus back to its stomping grounds. “We would ask members of the public fortunate enough to see it,” wrote the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, “to observe this wayward traveler from a safe distance and to give it the space it requires and submit any subsequent sightings to the IWDG sighting scheme.”
