Arctic Walrus Travels Thousands of Miles to Ireland After Likely Falling Asleep on Iceberg

Arctic Walrus Travels Thousands of Miles to Ireland After Likely Falling Asleep on Iceberg

A tusked walrus that was spotted on the coast of an Irish island on Sunday could have arrived after falling asleep on an iceberg in the Arctic, a marine biologist has said.Kevin Flannery, the director of Oceanworld Aquarium in Dingle, Co. Kerry, told the Irish Independent the animal may have been carried across the Atlantic Ocean before reaching the rocks on Valentia Island."I'd say what happened is he fell asleep on an iceberg and drifted off and then he was gone too far, out into the mid-Atlantic or somewhere like that down off Greenland possibly," he said. "That is usually what happens... they fall asleep on an iceberg and get carried off from the Arctic."In a Facebook comment, the aquarium said the iceberg may have melted off the Greenland ice shelf, leaving the walrus on the Gulf Stream.Footage of the walrus was captured by Valentia Island resident Alan Houlihan, who said his 5-year-old daughter first spotted the animal on the shoreline as they walked along Glanleam Beach on Sunday.Houlihan said: "I thought it was a seal at first and then we saw the tusks. He kind of jumped up on the rocks. He was massive. He was about the size