This morning, Thursday 16 April, a young walrus was sighted hauled out at Stronsay, Orkney. This is the second sighting of a walrus in the UK this year, with another in Fife a few months ago, and in addition to sightings of others recently in Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway.
The latest animal appears to be in good nutritional condition and we are aware of concern around an injury to one of its foreflippers. Photos show this to be a superficial wound as best as can be seen despite the visual of blood on the floor that may have been wiped around by a flipper, making it look worse than it is. This is not something we are worried about as it should heal up well in saltwater and without intervention. Should the animal remain in the area we will continue to monitor healing progression and note any new concerns.
People are reminded that walruses are protected by law from disturbance and the best practice wildlife watching advice for seals applies in the same way to prevent and minimise disturbance or stress to this rare and enigmatic ocean wanderer. The key points are below and the full Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code can be viewed on NatureScot’s website here.
Walruses are occasional visitors to European shores, usually juveniles finding their way around their world, however sightings of these and Arctic seal species appear to be increasing in the past decade. It is believed this may be due to climate change as they lose their normal sea ice habitat and are pushed further to find alternative places to rest and feed. We have recently collaborated with colleagues at OceanCare to highlight this issue in a presentation at the European Cetacean Society conference that you can view here.
We hope our latest walrus guest will be respected and allowed to rest peacefully and undisturbed during their stay while they sleep, conserve energy, feed and heal. If any suspected disturbance incidents are witnessed then please report them to the Police on 999 (urgent/ongoing) or 101 (non-urgent/afterwards).
Photo: Stronsay Pier Master Leslie Miller