--- title: "Walrus Falls Asleep on Iceberg, Drifts Across Ocean" description: "A poor walrus had a really rude awakening — it woke up on top of an iceberg floating off the northern shore of Ireland after drifting from the North Pole." date: "2021-03-15" modified: "2021-03-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/walrus-iceberg-drifts-across-ocean" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Sleep" tags: - "arctic" - "marine biology" --- # Walrus Falls Asleep on Iceberg, Drifts Across Ocean ![A poor walrus had a really rude awakening — it woke up on top of an iceberg floating off the northern shore of Ireland after drifting from the North Pole.]() *\Image: Joel Garlich-Miller\* A hapless walrus had a rude awakening — it woke up on an iceberg floating off the northern shore of Ireland, where walruses do not typically live, after drifting all the way from the North Pole. At least, that's the prevailing theory explaining why the confused walrus was spotted by a young girl on her stroll, British newspaper [*The Independent* reports](). In other words, the walrus is all of us having a rough start to yet another season of daylight savings. "Myself and my daughter were out walking on the beach down near the lighthouse," Kerry, Ireland local Alan Houlihan told the *Independent*. "He breached out of the water onto the rocks and gave us a bit of a show." "I thought it was a seal at first and then we saw the tusks," Houlihan told the *Independent*. "He kind of jumped up on the rocks. He was massive. He was about the size of a bull or a cow, pretty similar in size, he’s big, big." A [video]() taken by Houlihan shows the massive mammal awkwardly perched on a nearby rock. "He was sitting on the rock now kind of posing, at one stage there he threw up a fin and it looked like he was giving us all the birdie," he added. Walruses of this kind usually calls the Arctic home. Experts believe it may have been possible the poor animal drifted all the way to Ireland after falling asleep on an ice shelf. Kevin Flannery, marine biologist and director of Dingle Oceanworld, a local aquarium, told *The Independent* that it's "the first confirmed sighting of a walrus" in Ireland. "He’s from the Arctic," Flannery said. "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 would be pretty tired and pretty hungry at this stage." Before attempting its long journey back, the walrus will hopefully get some much needed rest. "Hopefully he’ll get a few scallops around Valentia," the biologist told the newspaper. "But at this point, he wants to rest. He’s come from the North Pole, possibly off Greenland." **READ MORE:** [Girl who spotted Irish walrus has ideas for names – depending on if it’s a boy or a girl]() \[*The* *Independent*\] ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()