Adorable Walrus Starts Exhibiting A Strange Behavior That Upsets Local Residents

From Wally’s looks alone, you wouldn’t think that he presented any problems. He’s a big ball of fun who simply seems to prefer spending time near human civilization rather than in his own. But while Wally may be something of a global celebrity, his mischievous habits aren’t impressing those who live in the European towns he likes to visit. And that’s what incited authorities to act. 

Yes, the rest of the world may be wowing at Wally, but what they don’t realize is how much trouble he’s inadvertently causing. Some people are so irate, in fact, that they even brought up the idea of “deporting” him from EU waters! Poor Wally is really rubbing them up the wrong way. 

But what could an adorable creature such as Wally possibly have done to get people so annoyed? Well, ever since he turned up along unfamiliar shores, he’s been exhibiting some strange behavior. And it’s not his fault. He just doesn’t know how to conduct himself in his new home. He’s doing his best, dammit! 

When Wally first appeared around the shores of County Kerry, Ireland, it stunned the public and wildlife experts alike. “This is the first confirmed sighting of a walrus. It's a one-off as far as I'm concerned,” Kevin Flannery, a marine biologist at Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium, told the Irish Examiner in 2021. So, where did he come from?

If you thought walruses usually live in the Arctic, you’d be correct. But rather strangely, Wally seems to prefer warmer waters. And experts don’t really know why this is or what caused him to make the journey away from home in the first place. They do have their theories, though.

The first possibility is that Wally, who’s approximately four years old, hitched a ride. And no, he didn’t catch the Polar Express. Instead, Flannery suggested that the wandering walrus dozed off on an iceberg and only came to once he was miles out of his comfort zone. But the World Wildlife Fund isn’t entirely convinced this is the case...

One of the WWF’s senior advisors, Tom Arnbom, shared his thoughts with BBC News in 2021. “Often it is adolescent animals that venture on long trips,” he revealed. And the expert believes that in this case, Wally was actually looking for something to eat. Makes sense, but why did he venture so close to land?

“Sooner or later [walruses] have to come to the shallows, i.e. less than 100 to 200 meters depth, to feed on mussels or clams,” Arnbom continued. “They eat up to several thousand clams a day.” So you could say Wally is being shellfish not having to share his bounty with other members of his walrus clan! Arnbom added that the big creature will probably travel around a bit before heading back where he came from. 

And that certainly seems to be the case so far. One of the earliest Wally sightings was on County Kerry’s Valentia Island by a father and daughter – Alan and Muireann Houlihan, respectively. “The size of the thing was astronomical,” Alan told local media. “It was the size of a big bull.” 

The pair were so enamored with Wally that they watched him for quite some time. “He disappeared into the sea for a while, and he then came back and put himself on a rock for a good couple of hours. It was fantastic,” said Alan. But as Arnbom indicated may be the case, Wally eventually got restless. 

Next, Wally supposedly made his way to Broad Haven South beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The walrus witnesses contacted Welsh Marine Life Rescue, who sent Cleopatra Browne to investigate. She told BBC News that the reports were accurate and it was, indeed, a walrus who in Browne’s own words, “sat there, chilling.” That’s Arctic animals for you — they’re cool. 

Browne went on to describe Wally. “It was about the size of a cow,” she said. “It was a whopper. I've seen them on telly and the news, but it was huge. You go around the coast path and go, ‘Woah.’ It’s not what you expect — it would be like seeing a penguin in your lounge." Pretty bizarre then!

Ellie West of the RSPCA — the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — gave Wally a checkup during his stay. Funnily enough, she pronounced him a little thinner than expected but explained that “thankfully, he wasn’t displaying any signs of sickness or injury.” Though he was close to accidentally causing one on his next stop!

Wally resurfaced — literally — in Tenby, Wales, where he apparently spent several days eating. This basically put the walrus into a contented food coma. And, unfortunately, the place he chose to sleep it off was inconvenient at best. Wally had settled down, you see, on a lifeboat slipway, obstructing access for emergency vehicles. 

Poor Wally didn’t know he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so he got a rather rude awakening. Yep, a crew volunteer went out to try and move the walrus, but as you can imagine, this turned out to be quite a tricky task. The brave man used a sweeping brush for his first attempt — but to no avail.

And according to Martyn Sidwell, a tourist who observed the event, Wally wasn’t impressed. “The walrus looked at him as if to say, ‘You’re having a laugh,’” Sidwell reported. So the crewman upped his game and came back with an air horn. This proved more effective, and the dejected Wally went to find somewhere else to crash. 

After Wally outstayed his welcome in Wales, he swam to Padstow in Cornwall, England, where he got a better reception. He even entertained a group of tourists on a sea safari who had the pleasure of an unexpected walrus sighting. To the passengers’ amazement, Wally accompanied their boat for a little while. 

A wildlife photographer for Padstow Sealife Safaris called Nathaniel Barry documented the first time he had spotted Wally. He wrote on Facebook, “This afternoon, our passengers and crew were absolutely astounded to spot what they first thought was a very large seal, only for it to pop up and reveal a pair of tusks.” 

Wally has since been spotted in French and Spanish waters as he travels around Europe. And it’s been good PR for him, too, because his appearances have made him a very popular walrus. Groups of fans usually turn up to see his arrival at a new destination. But that’s not all. 

Shops in these coastal towns have started selling walrus-themed merchandise to celebrate their guest. Ever wanted a cushion, T-shirt, or mug emblazoned with a walrus to commemorate your Wally encounter? Now you can! And his antics in Wales have even been immortalized in a children’s book by Sharron Taylor called Wally the Walrus. 

Plus, Tenby was so charmed by Wally that a local brewery — Tenby's Harbwr — honored the walrus with a beer called Tamar's Tusk. For those of you who don't know, a Tamar is a type of lifeboat, meaning the name pokes fun at his slipway snooze. But while the wandering walrus has many admirers, it hasn’t all been fun sightings and memorabilia. 

Wally’s behavior, which would be fine in his own arctic environment, simply isn’t suited for European waters. And it’s even putting some people out of pocket! In July 2021 John Hourston of The Blue Planet Society told Metro, “We are getting quite a few people asking us why Wally can’t be taken home.”

“He is causing a fair amount of mayhem, and the novelty of having him around might be wearing thin,” Hourston said. As a result, there was talk about deporting Wally and taking him back to the arctic. But the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or DEFRA, says that may not be an option. 

In 2021 DEFRA told The Sun, “Moving marine mammals has the potential to cause a large amount of stress to the animal, and it is not guaranteed that they won’t swim back to the original location.” Not music to locals’ ears, we imagine! But just what is it that’s causing them to become so irate with Wally’s antics? 

Remember how we mentioned that Wally may have hitched a ride to Europe on an iceberg? Well, when you look at typical walrus behavior, you’ll see that this could have been entirely possible. It is, in fact, normal for walruses to pull themselves out of the water and rest on ice floes. Not only does it give the animals a break from swimming, but it also plays a major part in their hunting and feeding routines. 

As the Smithsonian Museum has explained, “Walruses use sea ice as platforms on which to nurse their young and launch their dives for clams and other bottom-dwellers.” But if there aren’t any lumps of ice around, as is the case in warmer waters, they have to find an alternative. Wally chose boats — much to the amusement of some tourists.

For a lot of people, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to have a walrus haul itself up on deck while you’re enjoying a nice boat trip. Take sailor Rafe Ward, for instance, who owns a yacht called the Calypso. He and the tourists that he took out to sea went out of their way to try and spot Wally in the Isles of Scilly, England. 

“I wasn’t sure if we’d see [Wally], but we spotted him straight away,” Ward told Wales Online in 2021. “I tried to keep a distance, but he clearly took a liking to the boat — and it’s a nice boat, so I don’t blame him. It was great seeing him in the flesh because he’s been spotted all over recently.”

Ward continued, “He just wanted to say 'hello.' Everyone on board loved it. One man said it was more exciting than a diving trip at the Great Barrier Reef.” But owners of little boats see the more serious side to Wally’s antics. Apparently, a 2,000-pound walrus can cause a lot of damage. 

Some vessels simply can’t support Wally’s massive frame — and they have reportedly sunk as a result. Others are left unusable for days at a time after the walrus has docked on them. And not only are sailors having to fork out lots of money to repair their vehicles, but they're also having their livelihoods impacted.

“That walrus needs to go. I don’t think visitors realize that the islanders spend a lot of money on their boats, some up to tens of thousands of pounds,” an upset boat owner called Isaac Scoble wrote online. And the anger at Wally didn’t stop there.

Joy Hughes was another person advocating action against Wally. She wrote, “He’s lovely, but sorry, Wally, you’re becoming a menace and dangerous, too. This will not end well if he stays much longer.” But does this loveable walrus really present a danger? It’s possible, yes. Although Wally is seemingly yet to cause any injuries, he is very capable of doing so — even if it is accidental. 

Once, for instance, Wally accidentally flipped a dinghy in Tenby while trying to climb aboard. The vessel was thankfully empty, so no one was harmed. Still, British Divers Marine Life Rescue, or BDMLR, are collaborating with conservation groups and authorities to try and resolve the Wally issue in the interests of all parties. 

BDMLR issued a statement saying, “Unfortunately, [Wally’s] presence in a commercial harbor within an island community is posing huge risks. First to himself, and to livelihoods, but [also] potentially human safety. He may prevent emergency response vessels from being immediately operational or cause serious injury or worse if he capsizes a boat with people on board.”

For now, though, it looks as though Wally isn’t going anywhere. So County Cork, Ireland, has come up with another solution. Instead of attempting to get rid of the walrus, it’s trying to be more accommodating to him. That’s right: when Wally used a motorboat owned by West Cork’s Clonakilty Distillery, the company decided to do him a favor. 

Under normal circumstances, the motorboat would be out harvesting ingredients for their gin. But it’s currently acting as a temporary rest platform for Wally. The distillery has “agreed to allow Wally to use the boat for as long as needs be and not move it until a more permanent solution can be found,” spokesperson Adam Collins explained.

In the meantime, authorities are asking for other people to lend Wally a place to chill out. Seal Rescue Ireland is actively looking for another vehicle or platform that the walrus can use for a sofa — a place where he can be observed from afar and where he’s not accidentally breaking people’s boats.

While there’s no question that Wally is an adorable and apparently friendly walrus, Seal Rescue Ireland has issued a warning to people to treat him like any other wild animal. The organization’s executive director, Melanie Croce, announced via BBC News, “Just please, please respect him from a distance.” And to try and clarify how people should treat Wally, a politician for the U.K.’s Green Party made an interesting comparison...

Malcolm Noonan said, “It’s basically the same as a fox or rabbit under the law, so it’s up to people to cop on and have consideration for this poor wild animal, which is a long way from home. Leave it alone, and if you must go and see it, use binoculars.”