HE'S BACK!
In March of this year, an enormous Arctic Walrus made waves on social media (pun slightly intended) when he was spotted sunning himself on the rocks on Cork's Valentia Island, hundreds of miles from home.
Since then, the walrus-- who has been dubbed Wally-- has been spotted in Wales and, mot recently, Sicily-- but is now making his way back towards colder waters.
While people are keeping quiet about the exact location Wally has been seen in Ireland, in order to protect him from the many curious members of the public who would likely flock to the area to catch a glimpse of him, it is understood the walrus has been seen on Ireland's east coast multiple times in recent days,
Conservation charity Seal Rescue Ireland asked people in Munster, particularly Waterford, Cork and Kerry, to keep an eye out for the walrus as he is "on the move" again, but urged people not to disturb him if seen.
They wrote:
"If you do encounter the Walrus, please remember:
"1) Do not approach him as he is a protected species. Observe quietly from a minimum of 300 m and encourage others to do the same
"2) Please resist the urge to share the location publicly until a safe haul-out site and monitoring system can be established to ensure his safety.
"3) Report sightings to SRI's 24/7 Rescue Hotline on 0871955393, so we can continue monitoring and maintaining a safe space for him to recover."
They added: "Thank you to all the Walrus lovers sharing in our excitement about seeing such an incredible creature in our Irish waters! We hope everyone shares in our priority to keep him safe so he can rest up and head back to his home in Arctic waters."
Wally the Walrus has been on the move for four months now, travelling hundreds of miles on his adventure, but there are hopes he is slowly beginning to make his way back to the Arctic.
