Wally the walrus made a triumphant return to the UK coastline last night – by delighting locals in the Scilly Isles yesterday.
The walrus travelled 518 miles north from Spain to appear in the Bay of Porthcressa, on the island of St Mary’s on July 17.
Residents raced down to the beach to catch a glimpse of the tugboat-dodging animal, who was seen trying to climb aboard yachts 35 miles off the Cornish coast.
And no wonder the walrus needed to rest his flippers, after the Arctic mammal brought delight to communities in Ireland, Pembrokeshire, Cornwall and France over the past few months in his 2,000 mile adventure from Greenland.
Wally the walrus made a triumphant return to the UK coastline last night – by delighting locals in the Scilly Isles
The walrus travelled 518 miles north from Spain to appear in the Bay of Porthcressa, on the island of St Mary’s on July 17. Residents raced down to the beach to catch a glimpse of the tugboat-dodging animal, who was seen trying to climb aboard yachts 35 miles off the Cornish coast (pictured)
And no wonder the walrus needed to rest his flippers (pictured trying to climb on a yacht) , after the Arctic mammal brought delight to communities in Ireland, Pembrokeshire, Cornwall and France over the past few months in his 2,000 mile adventure from Greenland
A Scilly islander said the walrus was enjoying himself around moored boats on Thursday.
Local Will Lethbridge said: ‘He seems pretty happy and healthy. The beach is full of people with binoculars and telescopes and it seems Wally the walrus is around the shoreline playing with some of the yachts.’
Wally was last spotted soaking up the rays off the coast of Spain less than a fortnight ago – as he continued his long-distance swim across Europe.
The Artic walrus traveled 230 miles through the Bay of Biscay to the River Nervión earlier this month.
Wally spotters in France, where he was seen previously, said: ‘The walrus that appeared in La Rochelle last week is already in the Basque Country.
‘The Bilbao superport tugboats located him swimming in the mouth of the Nervion in apparent good health.’
Pictures show Wally the Walrus sunbathing on the rocks in Les Sables d’Olonne, France
Wally became a local celebrity when he rocked up on the south Wales coast in Tenby this year.
He was first spotted in County Kerry, Ireland in March, before heading over to the UK after he was believed to have fallen asleep on a drifting iceberg in his Arctic homeland.
Six days after first appearing in Ireland in March, the RSPCA were called out to check on the creature – which was ‘underweight’ – at the bottom of a cliff near Broad Haven South beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Wally was last spotted earlier this month near Padstow, 390 miles away from France
Wally cause quite a scene in Wales when he lounged on the RNLI’s slipway
Wally posed a weighty problem for worried lifeboat chiefs in Tenby when their emergency crews were blocked by the giant on their slipway.
But after becoming a known figure in the area, animal welfare groups believe he left after becoming ‘obviously disturbed’ by day-trippers getting too close.
Irresponsible tourists tried to approach him using jet-skis, paddleboards and drones as he rested on a RNLI slipway in the town’s harbour.
It became a concern for RNLI volunteers, who had to resort to shooing Wally off the slipway, using brooms and airhorns to try to move the animal.
Wally the Walrus travelled from Wales to Cornwall, and has now migrated further south
The RSPCA Cymru and Dyfed-Powys Police had to issue a plea to tourists to keep their distance from Wally, who is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Having spent months basking in the Welsh sunshine, he then travelled further south, popping up in Cornwall for a few days.
Then he migrated further south still, to Les Sables d’Olonne in western France, making it the town’s first sighting of a Walrus in 50 years.
Photographs show Wally basking in the French sun on the rocks on May 27.
People in Tenby are hopeful that Wally will return to Wales after his time in France, because he has become a local celebrity, with many shops selling Wally the Walrus merchandise.
Experts believe that Wally may have initially dozed off on a block of ice and drifted across the ocean.
RSPCA animal rescue officer Ellie West described Wally’s plight as ‘sad’ during Radio 4’s Today programme back in March.
She said at the time: ‘Whilst it is a very unusual sight […] it is quite a sad occurrence because we have to remember that this walrus is a very, very long way from where he should be.
‘We’re talking about a wild animal that’s still very mobile. He’s very big, we’re talking about much bigger than our normal seals. This one, although he’s of a large size he is a bit underweight.’
Wally became an icon in Tenby, Wales, where shops are selling walrus merchandise
It is hoped that the mammal will return to Tenby after his visit to the French and Spanish coast