Young Walrus Magnus Tours Scottish Coast, Delighting Crowds

A young walrus who has become something of a celebrity as he tours the Scottish coastline is "just exploring", experts say.

The young male - who has been named Magnus - was first spotted in the Orkney island of Stronsay earlier this month. He then appeared in Lossiemouth, Macduff and Fraserburgh. His latest stop was Findochty this week, drawing more large crowds - but he appeared to have moved on yet again on Tuesday morning.

Cath Bain, from the charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), said she could only guess where he might next appear.

Walruses are occasional visitors to UK shores, with sightings increasing in recent years. One theory is that this is due to the loss of sea ice habitats in the Arctic.

This particular walrus is estimated to be about 8ft (2.5m) long. His antics in recent days have been keeping crowds amused, including scratching against metal posts, and rolling into the water while asleep.

Bain, BDMLR's local area co-ordinator for Moray and Banffshire, said it has been an amazing opportunity for people to see the rare visitor.

"He made his way east from Lossiemouth and had a made a brief stop at Macduff and went off and was seen at Fraserburgh," she told BBC Scotland News. "We thought that would probably be the last we would see of him - and then he appeared in Findochty."

She said Magnus had been "quite happily" based on a pontoon at Findochty. "At one point he was lying asleep and was obviously a little too close to the edge and he rolled himself off the pontoon and into the water," she said. "He got a bit of a shock I think."

She said he seemed to be in quite good condition, aside from some superficial scrapes.

"In general, people have been very respectful and are just watching him very quietly, and letting him rest," she said. "Luckily by the fact he's on the floating pontoons means people can watch him without getting too close, which is ideal.

"We've had lots of families come down, some schoolchildren came down, he seems to be quite happy with all of that."

She said people were "fascinated" by him, in what was potentially a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity. "A lot of people have had a chance to see their first ever walrus, which is lovely."

She said it was difficult to tell what the walrus would do next after leaving Findochty, or how long he would stay.

"As to where he might go next, that's anybody's guess," she said. "I wouldn't like to hazard a guess."

"Vagrant walruses are not a new thing, what is new is social media, once they appear in one place the word goes round very quickly, and so everybody knows about it," Bain explained. "In the past maybe only the people in that one small village might have known there was something weird on the end of the pontoon."

She said they eat a mixture of food such as clams and mussels and crustaceans, so there would plenty of food around the Scottish coast. "They are Arctic specialists, they are used to much colder water temperatures," she said. "One of the reasons I think he might be preferring to haul out on pontoons is because it perhaps feels a bit like a floating iceberg.

"It's not really their natural habitat, it's a bit too far south, a bit too warm, which is a strange thing to say for Scotland."

"I guess they're just growing up and exploring."