Wally just wanted to sleep.
But he weighed 800 kilos, and none of the small boats he came across was prepared to become his bed. This young Arctic walrus, probably originally from Svalbard, appeared far from home in 2021 and traveled nearly 4.000 km along the coasts of Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and France. Along the way, he climbed onto boats to rest, sinking at least two and leaving thousands of dollars in damage in his wake in West Cork.
Seal Rescue Ireland, led by Melanie Croce, decided to solve it in a way as curious as the problem itself: they built floating platforms just for him. They marked one with towels that had picked up their own scent, so Wally would recognize it as a safe refuge. It worked. The walrus began using it again and again to rest, without sinking a single boat more, before continuing his solitary journey across the Atlantic.
