Walruses are an incredibly rare sight in Ireland, considering most of them live thousands of miles away in the Arctic Circle.
Alan HoulihanWalruses are very seldom see in Ireland , lead one maritime life scientist to mistrust that this one circumstantially fell at rest on an ice-skating rink floe and roam there .
Oversleeping can cause all variety of problem . Just ask this walrus — who seems to have fallen benumbed on an ice floe and drifted at least a thousand naut mi from the Arctic Circle to Ireland .
The sea horse was first recognize along the coast of Valentia Island in County Kerry , one of the westernmost points of Ireland . Alan Houlihan and his 5 - year - old daughter , Muireann , were walk along the beach this retiring weekend when they remark the creature lounging on some rocks .
Alan HoulihanWalruses are very rarely seen in Ireland, leading one marine biologist to suspect that this one accidentally fell asleep on an ice floe and drifted there.
“ I consider it was a seal at first , and then we saw the tusks,”Houlihan pronounce . “ He kind of start up on the rocks . He was massive . He was about the size of a bull or a cow , pretty alike in size ; he ’s big , large . ”
Walruses seldom seem in Ireland , so how did this one end up on the coast ? According to Kevin Flannery , theater director of the Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium in County Kerry , it may have been an fortuity .
“ I ’d say what happened is he fell deceased on an crisphead lettuce and drifted off,”Flannery said . “ Then he was gone too far , out into the mid - Atlantic or somewhere like that — down off Greenland perchance . It ’s incredible . It ’s a one - off as far as I ’m concern . ”
TwitterFive-year-old Muireann was the first to spot the walrus, her dad, Alan Houlihan said.
TwitterFive - year - old Muireann was the first to recognise the sea horse , her dad , Alan Houlihan said .
The first recorded sighting of a sea horse along the Irish coast was in 1897 — and no other sightings were reported until the 1980s . In the years since , fewer than a 12 walruses have been witness in Ireland .
That ’s because they normally live much farther northerly , in the Arctic Circle . There , they can hound for repast in the shallow water and rest on the shore or on ice floes , as appeared to be the pillow slip with this sea horse that the Houlihans spotted .
Wikimedia CommonsMost walruses live thousands of miles away from Ireland, in the Arctic Circle.
Sometimes , Flannery explicate , people in Ireland reckon they ’ve seen seahorse when they ’re actually spot seal . But , Flannery take the photos and videos of this seahorse and confirmed : It was n’t just “ a Navy SEAL with a toothache . ”
Wikimedia CommonsMost walruses live thousands of miles away from Ireland , in the Arctic Circle .
“ I had n’t see anything like it before , in Ireland anyway , ” said Houlihan . “ I ’ve never seen one . I spent my younger geezerhood angle with my Father-God and I ’ve never seen anything like it in Irish body of water , anyway . ”
TwitterMarine biologists suggest leaving the walrus alone while he regains his strength.
judge by the distance of the tusk of this sea horse , he seems to be young . Adult walruses can turn ivory as long as 3.3 infantry . The walrus on the Irish coast has much smaller , roughly one - foot ivory , however .
An Arctic Walrus has landed on Valentia Island … believed to have made its way all the means from Greenland ! It is likely exhausted . Video by Alan Houlihan , who ’s 5 year honest-to-goodness daughter was the first to spot the walrus.#Kerrypic.twitter.com / TLtBLBAZDk
— Seán Mac an tSíthigh ( @Buailtin)March 14 , 2021
“ He ’s come from the North Pole , possibly off Greenland , ” hypothesize Flannery . “ He could also be island - hopping and went to Iceland and on to Shetland , but that ’s unbelievable . I ’d say he came in out of the Atlantic . It ’s thousands of miles away . ”
Although he ’d had a long journey , the walrus have Houlihan and his girl “ a bite of a show . ”
“ It ’s smart as a whip , ” Houlihan gushed . “ He was sitting on the rock music now , kind of posing ; at one stage there , he befuddle up a fin , and it appear like he was yield us all the shuttlecock . ” For spotting the walrus , Houlihan added , he ’s dub his daughter “ the David Attenborough of Valencia Island . ”
So , what come next for this contrary traveler ? For now , it looks like the seahorse is evenhandedly exhausted after his inadvertent journey to Ireland .
TwitterMarine biologists suggest leaving the walrus alone while he regains his strength .
“ Hopefully he ’ll get a few scallops around Valentia , ” Flannery tell , note that the sea horse ’s tusk will serve him moil up shekels . “ But at this point , he wants to rest … If he regains his durability , hopefully he ’ll make his way of life back up . ”
The walrus , Flannery notice , would be “ pretty stock and pretty hungry at this stage . ” So , curious looker-on should leave him alone . “ He ’s on the rock’n’roll , asleep . I ’m asking for hoi polloi to [ let ] him rest until he goes back , ” Flannery added .
Perhaps the seahorse has already begun his getting even journey to the Arctic Circle , as Alan Houlihan recently went to checker on his unexampled Quaker and found the beach empty .
“ I went down early this dawn and there ’s no sign of him , ” Houlihan said . “ So I hope he ’s rust scallops and getting ready for his journeying back . ”
If the walrus decides that Ireland is to his liking and prefer to stick around , Muireann already has names picked out , Houlihan reported .
“ If it ’s a female child she wants it Isabelle , and if it ’s a boy she desire it Cian , ” he said .
lack any further sightings , it seems that Isabelle — or , more likely , given the tusks , Cian — has already embarked on the foresighted , prospicient journeying home .
After understand about the walrus that dozed off and ended up in Ireland , learn about these21 incredible animate being found in the Arctic . Or , take about how Ireland’sCliffs of Moherbecame one of the commonwealth ’s most popular attractions .
