An unexpected guest was found on the Þórshöfn pier this morning
People are wondering if the walrus is the same one who took to the pier in Breiðdalsvík last month, and they call Thor. Photo/Jón Gunnar Geirdal
A huge walrus is now lying in the middle of the floating dock of Þórshöfn in Langanes, and he doesn’t let much of his calm be disturbed.
The harbour master Þorri Friðriksson was in the harbour shed on the pier when the shipping manager Halldór Rúnar Stefánsson came in and announced “the guest” on the floating dock around 8 o’clock this morning. Arguably, it’s the walrus Þór (Thor) who has arrived at his home base on Þórshöfn.
The Easter visitor is pretty tired and just lying on the pier gathering strength. It does, however, respond to people coming close. mbl.is/Líney Sigurðardóttir
Stefánsson was heading down the floating dock, thinking about whether to lay his nets or not. He didn’t notice anything until suddenly a large pile of water rose in front of him and blocked the way to the boat. It was the walrus.
Waited to lay the nets
“Probably he came to tell me that it wasn’t time to lay the nets, he completely blocked the way to the boat. I didn’t get to the boat anyway, so I’ll wait to set up the nets and just take note of Þór,” Stefánsson says.
Police and a harbour master have now secured the area around the walrus and cordoned it off with banners.
Jón Gunnar Geirdal says the animal seems pretty tired and perhaps not in the best of health. The police has now put a yellow banner around it. Photo/Jón Gunnar Geirdal
The animal does not seem to be healthy, though, according to Jón Gunnar Geirdal, who is in Langanes with his family on his way to a christening party.
“We just got a call this morning that there was a walrus on the pier,” Geirdal tells mbl.is,“ but it’s just lying here, not looking too good. People are guessing it’s the same one seen at Breiðdalsvík last month. It’s just lying here and it seems very tiredl. It must have taken a lot of time to get here to Langanes and to the pier,” he says.
The walrus does, however, respond to people in its immediate surroundings. “It moved as people moved closer to it earlier, but the cops have now strung a yellow banner up here a little on top of the floating dock and closed it off for safety. The animal is huge, and also has two conservative teeth that can rip through anything. It’s just a natural adventure for locals and visitors, it’s just great to see a creature like this,” concludes Geirdal.
The hefty visitor can be seen from a far. mbl.is/Líney Sigurðardóttir
“The harbour master now just called my personal phone and let me know that there was a walrus on the pier,” says Arron Björn Guðmundsson, the police chief of Þórshöfn, of the unexpected Easter visitor who appeared to the townspeople and visiting passersby there this morning.
Guðmundsson says the police assignments at Þórshöfn are many and varied, as can be determined by the arrival of the walrus this morning. He is now waiting to hear more of what could be the possible next steps, “but I only now hope he goes back to the sea,” the he says, adding that it would be interesting to know if it is the same animal that was spotted in Breiðdalsvík in February.
Here is a footage of the walrus "Thor" when he was in Breiðdalsvík last month:
