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| Thor was seen resting on a wooden pontoon at the Bryce Yacht Club. Photo: Owen Humphries/PA. |
Crowd-pleasing in Scarborough on New Year's Eve, migrating walruses have returned to sea from Bryce's final resting place on the Northumberland coast.
Thor, who showed up at Bryce on Monday, was back on the water before 7am on Tuesday.
When the walruses were seen resting on the yacht club's wooden pontoons, crowds quickly flocked to Bryce to park in the afternoon and spend the night.
The juvenile male is believed to be the same walrus resting on the airstrip in Scarborough Harbor, about 100 miles south, on December 30th. Within 24 hours, he was back in the water again.
Scarborough's New Year's Eve fireworks display was canceled to avoid walrus damage, but the walruses had already left the harbor before midnight.
Thor, the first walrus recorded in Yorkshire, is believed to have been spotted far south while swimming near the Hampshire coast in early December. He is expected to continue heading north toward his natural habitat in the Arctic.
BDMLR Rescue and community organizer Molly Gray said of Thor's visit to North Yorkshire: "
Thor is the third walrus seen in the UK in the last two years. "It could be a bit of a pattern...so we could see more, but who knows," said Gray.
As a protected species, Thor's perimeter was cordoned off and closely monitored by marine experts. In 2022, a walrus nicknamed Freya was euthanized in Norway. This is because visitors approach her incessantly and can threaten human safety.
Onlookers were advised not to get too close to Thor, and Gray advised people to stay away.
"He needs to save energy and rest for the long journey back to the North Pole."
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