A Walrus was Spotted in Ireland for the First Time After Floating From Greenland on an Iceberg

Did you hear the one about the walrus that fell asleep on an iceberg in the Arctic and woke up in Ireland? While it might sound like the start of a bad joke, a walrus had a bit of the luck of the Irish on Sunday as it made its strange and unexpected journey, which ended on the rocks along Valentia Island in County Kerry, according to the Irish Independent.

The walrus is the first of its kind to appear in Ireland, according to The New York Post.

“He breached out of the water onto the rocks and gave us a bit of a show,” Alan Houlihan told The Independent. “I thought it was a seal at first and then we saw the tusks.”

Houlihan was walking with his 5-year-old daughter when they spotted the mammal.

The walrus is believed to have arrived from Greenland, according to Kevin Flannery, director of Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium, who spoke to the Independent.

Flannery confirmed that the walrus is indeed  the first to ever arrive in the country and is in healthy shape.

"Hopefully then, he can make his way home himself," he added.

Earlier this year, NASA reported that warming temperatures in the sea are accelerating Greenland’s glaciers to melt. The glaciers then break off as icebergs and float around, NASA said. All of this is due to climate change.

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