WHICH WAY TO THE PARTY BOAT?
MARCH 26: TENBY, WALES
Wally is spotted 280 miles away in Pembrokeshire seaside town Tenby where he starts causing mischief. He is seen capsizing a dinghy before attempting to climb onto a fishing boat moored in the harbour, a spectacle which stops locals in their tracks. ‘He had his flippers right up on deck,’ said beachgoer Martyn Thomas, 36. ‘He’s a huge creature.’ another observer, plumber Sean Roche, said: ‘I was late for work this morning and this is the best excuse ever.’
APRIL 5: Wally soon becomes Tenby’s top attraction. local businesses are quick to create Wally memorabilia and a brewery even names a beer after the new celebrity. Members of the public travel from as far as Essex and leeds — breaking Covid restrictions over the Easter Weekend — to glimpse the wild animal who was seen adorably balancing a starfish on his nose and trying to clamber onto all manner of vessels. Wally was identified as a young, male walrus due to the shortness of his tusks. Cleopatra Browne, of Welsh Marine life Rescue, was amazed at his size. ‘He’s a whopper — about the size of a cow. I’ve seen them on telly and the news, but he was huge,’ she says.
APRIL 26: SEEN again in Tenby after disappearing for several days, having been scared. anyone who disturbs Wally is warned they could be guilty of a criminal offence under the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981.
The mammal had fled the harbour after some people threw items at him, flew drones close to him and used fish in a bid to lure him too close.
RSPCA inspector Keith Hogben says: ‘We’ve all got used to social distance over the last year — and that’s something we now need to practise with this walrus.’
However, emergency services get concerned when Wally becomes fond of taking a nap on the lifeboat station slipway and has to be shooed away.