Public urged to stop 'swarming' Wally the Walrus and let him rest
Wally has been spotted again in West Cork, this time in Crookhaven, and is drawing a big crowd of onlookers. Picture: Andy Gibson
Seal Rescue Ireland has urged the public to stop "swarming" Wally the Walrus and instead to admire the animal from a distance.
The organisation says the 800kg walrus was visibly stressed and upset during a stop in Crookhaven in West Cork yesterday, and may also have suffered injuries at the time too.
Observers have noted that the animal is becoming very stressed and agitated as boats have been travelling too close.
The volunteer group is also asking the public not to post Wally's location on social media and to give him a chance to rest.
Melanie Croce, executive director at Seal Rescue Ireland, urged people not to share Wally’s exact location, as this was drawing people to him and potentially disturbing him.
She said: “All day, he’s been surrounded by boats, paddleboarders, kayakers, people coming right up close to the boat and sticking cameras in his face.
“We really need to put his welfare and his safety first," she told the PA news agency.
“So we really are just advising the public to keep a safe distance, to please keep from disclosing the location, and to report it Seal Rescue Ireland’s 24 hour hotline if you do see him.
“He actually is showing signs of an injury on his flipper as well.
“That could be because people were approaching him and startling him and that’s caused him to repeatedly climb in and out of the boat, which puts him at risk and the boat at risk.
“So just please, please respect him from a distance.”
Ms Croce, has urged the public to behave responsibly when visiting Wally.
“The biggest things are to maintain safe distance of at least 100 metres, and to observe quietly.
“This is a huge animal, he’s 800 kilos.
“And so he could hurt someone or he could hurt himself, if he’s scared.
“If people are startling him and stressing him, it could cause him to cause damage to property.” She added: “We do know that he has sunk a few boats, and he’s capsized a few boats.
“This is because it’s an Arctic species, so usually they rely on holding out on sea ice.
“Since we don’t have sea ice, he is being opportunistic and climbing up on the next best thing, or the closest thing, which would be boats and ribs.”
A marine wildlife expert has poured cold water on plans to provide Wally the walrus with a ‘floating couch’ or a disused rib, warning that such a move could create a circus around the Arctic visitor.
The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group’s (IWDG) sightings officer, Pádraig Whooley, said people need to stop treating it like a pet.
“It’s a wild animal. Walruses have been doing this for millions of years,” he said. “They haul up on jagged rocks and on rocky shoreline. In fact, this walrus has it very easy at the moment in that he doesn’t have to look over his shoulders for polar bears.
“This is a case of perhaps taking animal welfare too far.
“We should just let mother nature run its course. There is a lot of evidence to suggest the least amount of human interference in cases like this, the better for the animal.”
Mr Whooley spoke out after the 800kg juvenile male was spotted resting on a small leisure boat in Crookhaven in West Cork.
Efforts were underway last weekend to deploy either a floating pontoon or a disused rib in the hope of preventing more damage to boats.
But Mr Whooley said while these efforts are well-intentioned, this walrus has shown resilience without people making a bed or a pontoon for him.
“There are plenty of remote areas of the coastline for a walrus to safely come ashore for rest and providing it with a purpose-built bed may just be sending it the wrong message,” he said.
“We all surely want the same thing, which is for it to stay only as long as it needs and then move on. Otherwise it just becomes a circus.”
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