A walrus turns up in East Iceland

An Icelandic biologist said the walrus is likely a young animal who swam from Greenland.

A large walrus without tusks swam ashore at Þvottárfjara beach in Álftafjörður, East Iceland on Tuesday.

Walruses are not native to Iceland.

According to marine biologist Erlingur Hauksson, the animal is probably a youngster that swam to Iceland from Greenland.

“He has no teeth so he’s probably younger than three years old,” Hauksson said.

He explained to mbl.is that a toothless walrus has difficulty obtaining food for himself. Walrus females feed their young milk for 18 months and then hunt shellfish and other food for their offspring for another year.

Hauksson is surprised how relaxed the walrus was despite being approached by lots of people who wanted to capture photos of him.

“Maybe he was tired, I’m surprised that he didn’t do anything and didn’t behave aggressively.”