An Arctic walrus which arrived off the west Cork coast earlier this week from Ardmore, Co Waterford appears to have resumed its journey along the south west coast.
Locals at Ardfield near Clonakilty say the sea animal, nicknamed Wally, was seen last evening heading towards Inchydoney and Ring also in Clonakilty Bay.
Wally was first spotted in Dunnycove in Ardfield, Cork on Monday evening after he climbed aboard a local boat.
Earlier, he had sunk a five-metre fishing boat trying to climb into it and damaged several other small boats and a RIB.
Walrus relaxing in a boat in Dunnycove, Ardfield, Co Cork having earlier sank one boat and damaged a number of others. pic.twitter.com/1AZwtxHq9O
— Gerard Dillane (@adrag1) August 9, 2021
Since then, the tiny coastal enclave has been inundated with sightseers keen to catch a glimpse of the enormous sea animal.
Tim Feen of the Castlefreke unit of the Irish Coast Guard said it was great to see such a rare sight, but people need to give the walrus a bit of space because they are unpredictable creatures.
And he warned boat owners along the coast to keep an eye out for the marine mammal as "he is capable of inflicting a fair bit of damage.
"Short of going to the Arctic, I never thought I'd see a walrus here. It was nice to see him but the infrastructure and roads here couldn't cope with the interest. But you couldn't blame people either."
The Arctic walrus was first spotted last March resting on a rock at Valentia Island in Co Kerry before being seen in south Wales, in Cornwall, along the Atlantic coast of France and as far south as Bilbao in northern Spain before making its way back via the Scilly Isles to Ardmore in Co Waterford and most recently Ardfield in west Cork.
Experts say the walrus is quite young, judging by the length of its tusks, and it is difficult to say whether it is male or female.
A member of the seal family, they feed on shellfish such as mussels and organisms living in the mud along the shoreline.
