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LAST UPDATE | 15 Mar 2021
AN ARCTIC WALRUS washed up on the rocks at Valentia Island in Kerry yesterday but there was no sign of him this morning.
The Irish Whale & Dolphin Group confirmed the sighting yesterday afternoon and have urged the public to keep a safe distance.
The walrus was spotted by Alan Houlihan and his five-year-old daughter Muireann while they were out walking.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Hourihan said “it was just amazing” to spot the seam mammal. “It’s the size of a cow or a bull…I hadn’t seen anything like it in Ireland.”
We would ask members of the public fortunate enough to see it, 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. Thank you🐳🦭 pic.twitter.com/hx6OyAdLpX
— Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (@IWDGnews) March 14, 2021
Muireann has suggested two possible names for the walrus – Isabelle if it’s a girl, and Cian if it’s a boy.
“She went home last night and she was drawing pictures of walruses. It was so adorable,” Houlihan added.
We are in lockdown so the kids have gone back to school today for the first time, so it made things a bit easier for them to go back in today with a news story.
The Walrus, a rare sight in Irish waters, is believed to be a young male. It is said to be in an exhausted state.
Houlihan said there was no sign of the walrus this morning.
Kevin Flannery of Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium said it is very likely the walrus could have been asleep on an iceberg which melted off the Greenland Shelf.
The Irish Whale & Dolphin Group wrote on social media that this was only the third validated sighting of a walrus in Ireland since 1999.
“We would ask members of the public fortunate enough to see it, 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,” the organisation said.
With reporting by Press Association
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Fine on the spot for him. Well outside his 5k.
i would love more info on his chances of survival,and how he will cope in this enviroment
@Larry Roe: Yeah everyone’s cracking jokes and I’m like “aww he’s so far from home, will he be okay??” I did see a comment from Dingle Oceanworld that when he rests up and regains his strength he may be able to make his way back home. There should be plenty of food for him anyway where he is.
@Larry Roe: yes Larry. He should be fine from the feeding perspective. Orcas sights are common there. No records of sightings doesn’t mean walruses never come. It’s just people don’t realise or take it as normal
@Larry Roe: You’re not going to get any coherent and informative replies here. Just have a look at the comments………
@Jayne: Eh… Jokes are supposed to be funny … the ones posted here require the imagination of a 2 year old to think up.
The new fungi.
Hopefully he can recharge the batteries and get going again.
False alarm just been confirmed it was Brian Cowan
@Fargo Boyle: childish remark
@John O Reilly: thanks for the feedback much appreciated
@Fargo Boyle: I think he was being kind to you….
@Fargo Boyle: hard to tell them apart tbh :))
@Stan Papusa uncanny resemblance
@Fargo Boyle: Even the eyewitness description fits: “it was just amazing [..] It’s the size of a cow or a bull…I hadn’t seen anything like it in Ireland.”
@Fargo Boyle: you do know the man is seriously ill and has family?
@Fargo Boyle: work on your IQ. An adult slagging a person’s appearance
@John O Reilly: zzzzzzz boring the jocks off me Mother Teresa
Fabulous…do hope he finds his way back home
He heard there was a job going around here somewhere after fungi retired
Very sad
Goo goo goo joob
@Ping pong posse club: blubber glubber
@Ping pong posse club: Was The Egg-Man anywhere abouts?
@sean o’dhubhghaill: sitting in valentia island waiting on the sun…..
@Brian Dunne: If the sun doesn’t come will I get a tan standing in the Irish rain?
“It is very likely he could have been asleep on an iceberg”…. Lol… Where do they find these guys..
Polar bears next
He is the Walrus.
@Liz O’Neill: i am the egg man
Goo goo g’joob!
@Liz O’Neill: koo koo katchu!!
If we had competent politicians in charge this would never have happened . Sinn Fein would have sorted this . A walrus for the people voted for , by the people .
Is he in quarantine ?
Goo goo g’joob
Climate change were all gone soon
We should probably organise to bring him home. I dont think he knows where hes going. He probably drifted off course during rough weather.
@Erin Gaelic: charter a Ryanair flight for him he’ll be well lost by the time he gets to his destination
Will he actually survive on his own or do they like living in a colony.
Did he have a negative test?
Not a walrus. Actually a seal who put on a few lockdown pounds. You insensitive bast##ds
Straight to a hotel room for 14 days. Bloody cheek.
St Patrick was a walrus ( given that this one has ‘returned’ to Wales after visiting Ireland )
I am the Walrus. Koo koo katchu!!!
have your say