Unusual visit – walrus in Skåne

On the coast of Arild in Skåne, there is now a temporary attraction – a walrus is visiting. It may be the first walrus in Skåne.

The walrus is believed to be the one that a few weeks ago was seen outside Halland, and has now made its way south along the coast to Arild which is located in northwestern Skåne. This is reported by Helsingborgs Dagblad.

“It’s the first walrus in Skåne as far as I know,” Kennet Lundin, associate professor of marine biology at the Gothenburg Museum of Natural History, told the newspaper.

Walruses are usually found in arctic and surrounding seas in the Northern Hemisphere. It is very rare for walruses to be seen in Swedish waters, although it happened a couple of times during the 1900s. Earlier this spring, however, a walrus appeared in Smögen in Bohuslän. It settled on a jetty for jet skis.

Walruses should be allowed to be in peace, by not going too close or getting too close to it by boat. A propeller can seriously injure the animal.

Walruses are, as an animal species, related to seals. They can grow to over three meters in length and weigh more than one and a half tons, according to the National Encyclopedia. The species has been endangered due to fierce hunting.

But now there are large populations that have recovered well, above all in the Pacific Ocean. There are also quite a few in Greenland and Svalbard.