male Atlantic walrus (O. r. rosmarus)
wild-caught on March 27th, 1981
released on April 9th, 1981
None.
capture 1981-Mar-27 in Ameland, Netherlands
transfer 1981-Mar-27 to Zeehondencrèche Pieterburen
transfer 1981-Mar-28 to Rijksinstituut voor Natuurbeheer
release 1981-Apr-09 at Helgoland, Germany
The dates listed here generally represent the time at which the measurements were published, not necessarily the date on which they were taken.
1981: 400 kg · 881 lb
1981: 220 cm · 7 ft 2 in
1981: 10 cm · 3.9 in
1981: "40 kg (88 lb) of mussels and a single mackerel" daily
No images available at this time.
The images found here have all been gathered either from this facility's official resources or news articles.
This animal spent a couple of weeks off the islands of Ameland and Terschelling before being captured by net in the mud flats of Ameland. He was then placed on a truck and transferred by ferry to the Seal Nursery at Pieterburen; however, the walrus had to be relocated after he climbed over the meter (over 3 ft) tall fence around his pool.
He was recaptured and transferred the next day to the National Institute for Nature Management on Texel Island to continue his rehabilitation. At the Institute he was placed into a water storage tank measuring 40 x 40 x 4 meters (131 x 131 x 13 ft); initially, to allow him time to rest, the tank kept nearly empty, though it was later found that filling the tank with around 30 cm (just under a foot) of water still allowed the walrus to rest while also stimulating his appetite.
After the water was added, the walrus began eating for the first time on April 3rd, and from that point forward his daily diet consisted of around 40 kg (88 lb) of mussels and a single mackerel.
Initial plans were for him to be released near a native stock of walrus, but permission from both Greenland and Norway was refused due to the faint possibility of introducing rabies into those areas. The decision was then made to release him at Helgoland, where it was hoped that the currents would carry him northward.
He was marked with green and yellow paint and released into the wild on April 9th, 1981 -- he remained at Helgoland until the 20th of May, and on May 25th he was sighted resting on a beach 100 km (62 miles) north of Esbjerg, Denmark. On the 28th he was seen for the last time near Skagen, Denmark, on a northward trajectory.
The World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, and the Pieterburen Seal Sanctuary all funded Snorre's 4,000 gulden (nearly $1,700 USD in 1981, or just under $5,500 USD in 2026) transportation costs aboard the ship "Visia-9".
1981-Apr-09. Leidsch Dagblad. Walrus per krat op weg. Retrieved from leiden.courant.nu.
1981. P. J. H. Reijnders. Observation, catch and release of a walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) on the Isle of Ameland, Dutch Wadden Sea. Retrieved from ices.dk.
1998. Pieter 't Hart & Peter J.H. van Bree. Opnieuw een walrus op de Nederlandse kust. Retrieved from natuurtijdschriften.nl.
2022-Dec-01. Stichting Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen. Walrus in de opvang. Retrieved from zeehondencentrum.nl.