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I am the walrus: Unusual visitor pops up on Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula

Whales and seals are a common sight in the waters off St. Lunaire-Griquet, but spotting a walrus was a first for many in the area.

Crowd gathered to watch the marine mammal near St. Lunaire-Griquet

Maggie Gillis · CBC News ·
Ruby Taylor Peyton spent about half an hour watching this walrus Monday evening in White Cape Harbour. (Ruby Taylor Peyton)

Whales and seals are a common sight in the waters off St. Lunaire-Griquet, at the tip of Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula. Even polar bears show up every now and again, but spotting a walrus was a first for many in the area.

Ruby Taylor Peyton heard the news and headed to the White Cape Harbour area around 6:30 p.m. Monday, where she snapped photos of the marine mammal bobbing in the water.

Some people walked out on the sea ice to get a better look at the walrus, while others watched the animal with binoculars. (Ruby Taylor Peyton)

"Every now and then he'd poke up and just lie back down again," said Taylor Peyton, who had never seen a walrus in the area before. 

"Pretty cool."

Taylor Peyton says the walrus was hanging out near a rock in the harbour. (Ruby Taylor Peyton)

"There was a crowd there, they were talking that years ago there was one in, but it was a long time ago," said Taylor Peyton.

According to the Species at Risk Public Registry, the range of the Atlantic walrus includes the central Canadian Arctic to the Kara Sea in the east, Svalbard in the north, and Nova Scotia in the south.

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