A walrus that accidentally pulled from the Arctic Circle to an Irish beach last month, probably while floating on an iceberg, continued its antics by climbing on passing ships and even falling asleep on a slide intended for lifeboats.
As the sea mammal, nicknamed Wally, has become somewhat of a tourist attraction, conservation groups and local authorities are concerned that so much human attention could disturb the walrus. They are now warning tourists to leave the country walrus only after reports made over the Easter weekend that Jet Ski riders, surfers and paddleboarders disturbed the blubbery and made mammals relax by getting too close.
A five-year-old girl walking with her father first noticed Wally on March 14; he crashed on the rocks of Valentia Island in County Kerry, Ireland Live Science reported earlier. No one knows how he arrived at a destination thousands of miles from his usual Arctic hangout, but one marine biologist speculated that the animal had fallen asleep on a floating iceberg.
But Wally’s journey does not end on that beach. He traveled 450 kilometers further south in just six days, from County Kerry to Pembrokeshire, Wales.
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Wally, who was visually identified by a conservation group like the same walrus seen in Ireland, aroused the calamity by attracting rides on passing ships. The cumbersome attempt of the cow-sized mammal to climb aboard a rubber boat eventually capsized, witnesses said.
A joint statement issued by the RSPCA, Tenby Harbor Master, Welsh Marine Life Rescue, Tenby Lifeboat Station, British Divers Marine Life Rescue, Natural Resources Wales and CSIP Marine Environmental Monitoring has warned tourists not to get too close to Wally, who be protected. by the Nature and Rural Act of 1981.
“We understand that it is exciting and unusual that the walruses are going to live in Tenby temporarily, and that many people want to visit the area during the bank holiday weekend in the hope of getting a glimpse of him,” they said. statement. “However, it is in his best interest to be left alone as much as possible, so we ask people to remember that he is a wild animal and avoid the temptation to get close to him and disturb him.”
The statement specifically called for recreational experts in the nearby waters. “We are very concerned to hear reports that some people have tried to get close to him by means of jet skis or pounding and surfing – this is really not in his best interest and we urge people to act responsibly this weekend and if they find themselves in the area to enjoy him from afar, ”reads the statement.
Walruses are rarely seen so far south of the Arctic Circle, where they usually hunt for shellfish in shallow water and rest on nearby beaches and icebergs. The first sighting of a walrus off the coast of Ireland was in 1897. Since then, less than two dozen additional walruses have been observed in Ireland, Live Science reported earlier.
Walruses are not the only Arctic animal recorded during a southern holiday: in 2018, a Beluga whale spotted in front of Gravesend in Kent, and in 1949, two narwhales show up in the Thames and Medway canals.
Originally published on Live Science.