Walrus ‘the size of a bull’ washed up in outer Kerry
Walrus ‘the size of a bull’ washed up in outer Kerry
By Emily Mullen
The gigantic mammal had its cover blown by a five-year-old child
To glance at social media today, you wouldn’t think it was just a little over three months since Fungie swam off into the sunset leaving a broken country behind in his surf. But it just goes to show, no matter your legacy, or the number of tourist attractions in your name, time and tide wait for no dolphin.
Turning its considerable back on the chance to have a rotund monument in its honor and to be the reason why a thousand ships laden with tourists are launched each year, the walrus chose not to show its face on Dingle’s shore. The walrus chose an altogether less developed spot along the Kerry coast, near Glanleam beach on Valentia Island.
The walrus was spotted by a five-year-old Muireann Houlihan while on a walk with her dad, Alan Houlihan. Originally thinking it was a seal, taking a grand big look at its unit-like qualities, the pair realized that it was actually a walrus. The size of the thing was “astronomical” Alan told Independent.ie, “He’s huge, he’s about the size of a bull or a cow”.
The theory goes that the mammal fell asleep on an iceberg in the North Pole, floated across the Atlantic ocean, and ended up in one of the most rural beaches in Ireland.
The walrus is predicted to recover and make its way home, but the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group have urged the public to give the mammal some time to recover from the shock of arriving in Ireland, “We would ask members of the public fortunate enough to see it, to observe this wayward traveler from a safe distance and to give it the space it requires.”
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