Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

A Highland Blend

| Promoting Caithness

  • About/Business Support Services
    • Available Services
    • Testimonials
  • Blog Posts: Travel
    • NC500
    • SCOTLAND
    • EUROPE/WORLDWIDE
  • Blog Posts: Food & Drink

When Wally the Walrus came to Wick

June 21, 2018 by Susan 2 Comments

In the middle of May, the Caithness sea watching page on Facebook went mad. Not because dolphins or whales had been spotted (which is quite normal up here at this time of year) but because there was a real-life walrus, in Wick!

walrus

Affectionately known as Wally, his movements around the north coast of Caithness and Sutherland had been followed in the last couple of months, as Wally had stopped off at Orkney, Dunnet, and Kinlochbervie. Everyone was wondering where he would turn up next!

walrus

I raced down with my camera to join the crowds – obviously a lot of people had seen the post, as there was around 200 people all craning to get a sight of the walrus.

walrus

As he was a sole traveller, he was pretty chilled out (if you want to see a herd of walruses looking pretty ferocious, check out this BBC Earth video!) …

walrus

…and basking in the warm evening sunshine, occasionally flapping his flippers in the incoming tide. Everyone was joking that due to living in the arctic, Wally had come down to Scotland for this summer holidays!

walrus

As the tide was coming in, every so often, the walrus would haul himself further up the stony beach. As a walrus can weigh up to a ton (100kg) this is no mean feat!

walrus

As he moved, we got a good view of those enormous tusks and long whiskers.

walrus

It was quite staggering to see, and lovely particularly for children who were getting particularly excited at this potentially once in a life-time experience. Adults were too, as there was no sense of when Wally might get fed up and find a new place to sunbathe!

walrus

As it turns out, Wally was quite happy to extend his visit to Wick overnight, he was obviously tired from his travels around the north of scotland, as evidenced by his yawn below!

walrus

We visited again the following day, where he was doing much of the same, before leaving Wick that evening. He was next spotted about a fortnight ago in Shetland, so he’s obviously heading back north to the arctic!

walrus

Related

Filed Under: NC500 Tagged With: caithness, nc500, sutherland, wally, walrus, wick

RECENT POSTS

A Highland Blend’s reflection on 2020 – a year like no other

A Caithness Christmas Shopping Guide | PopUps, Private Shopping and more!

8 ways to prepare for a COVID Christmas in Caithness

Why I’ve launched A Highland Blend to work with Caithness businesses

Reframing thought processes: a business mindset | Reflections on risk and investment

Previous Post: « Capilla, Scrabster – A NC500 taste of tapas
Next Post: Bistro by the Sea, Portmahomack (Review) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gail

    June 21, 2018 at 3:59 pm

    Fantastic pictures Susan. Isn’t it exciting to live where we do? 🙂 xx

    Reply
    • Susan

      June 26, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      It certainly brought a bit of excitment to Wick! x

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

I’m Susan and welcome to A Highland Blend – a website primarily promoting the people, products and places of Caithness. I offer digital media and VA support services for businesses in the north Highlands of Scotland and beyond. To find out more, please check out my About Me or Available Services pages.

I also love to help locals and tourists alike discover the best of Caithness and the rest of the Scottish Highlands, so you’ll also find blog posts that will help plan your itinerary, whether it’s places to visit, or places to eat and drink.

If you’d like to get in touch, please contact me by email or by any of the social media links below.

GET IN TOUCH

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

TAGS

Archives

Categories

Footer

GET IN TOUCH

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

RECENT POSTS

Taste North 2020 goes digital

TASTE NORTH 2020

During these strange times, organisations are having to adapt to some challenging circumstances, and Taste North is no different. This year’s Taste North 2020 festival is fully online, so take a look below at what’s on offer! (Read my Taste North 2018 report here)

What I’ve learned from local businesses in Caithness

As I set out on my own business journey (see here for how I’m now working with local businesses in Caithness to strengthen their online promotion), I’m really keen to learn from other local businesses. In today’s feature, I’ve gathered the thoughts of four business women on how the region of Caithness shapes their offering,…

Read More

A change of scene during COVID-19 | A week in Abzshire (Aberdeenshire)

Abzshire Prince Albert Cairn

It feels a little bit strange to be talking about holidays during a global pandemic, but we managed to get a change of scene over the summer once lockdown restrictions were lifted in Scotland. Part of our intended summer holiday plans were to visit friends in England, but as we felt it was a bit…

Read More

© 2021 · Logo & Website Design by Kirsty M Design · Built on the Genesis Framework