I AM THE WALRUS, CONTINUED
When is a rare occurrence no longer rare but rather commonplace? I had a small entry on the walrus in the Baltic in my last “Strange Continent”, but was not aware how often these arctic animals actually come to more southerly shores. The East Frisian islands in Germany were visited in 1998, and again in September 2021 (the animal made stops at Baltrum, Spiekeroog, Wangerooge and Borkum). Then one nicknamed Wally surfaced at Höfn in the Hornafjörður, Iceland, and one nicknamed Freya fell asleep on a submarine in a Dutch harbour. NDR, 12+15 Sept; Iceland Review, 21 Sept; Blinker, 23 Sept; Kurier, 3 Nov 2021.
In March 2022, the walrus that had visited Germany was seen at Hvide Sande, Denmark, and then in Sweden, near Göteborg. It was also nicknamed Wally and possibly was the animal seen in Rügen and later Poland. The Baltic walrus continued its journey. Early in July, it was spotted off Latvia’s Baltic coast. On the early morning
