{"id":434159,"date":"2026-10-22T00:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T00:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/434159\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T00:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T00:22:12","slug":"from-alaska-beach-to-orlando-rescued-walrus-calf-finds-home-at-seaworld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/434159\/","title":{"rendered":"From Alaska beach to Orlando: Rescued walrus calf finds home at SeaWorld"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 SeaWorld Orlando<\/a> has added another rescued Pacific walrus calf to its growing herd.<\/p>\n

The theme park announced Wednesday the arrival of Annautaq (pronounced \u201cah-now-tuq\u201d), a rescued five-month-old Pacific walrus calf found alone on a remote beach in northern Alaska. <\/p>\n

Weighing approximately 220 pounds, Annautaq is now receiving around-the-clock care from SeaWorld Orlando\u2019s animal care and veterinary team \u2014 one of only four U.S. institutions currently capable of housing walruses.<\/p>\n

Annautaq\u2019s name, meaning \u201caxe\u201d in I\u00f1upiaq, was given by Violet Anniskett, a wildlife research intern and local community member who helped discover the calf alongside U.S. Geological Survey scientist Tony Fischbach. The pair found him hiding between the remains of two adult walruses, already being targeted by scavenging birds, according to a news release. <\/p>\n

\"\"Annautaq’s rescue in Alaska. (United Parks & Resorts)<\/p>\n

After several days of on-site care, community support and coordination with federal wildlife officials, Annautaq was flown to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward for intensive rehabilitation. SeaWorld Orlando dispatched its animal care and veterinary staff to Alaska to assist and prepare him for his 4,000-mile journey to Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnnautaq\u2019s story shows why having specialized marine mammal rehabilitation capacity in Alaska is so important,\u201d said Jane Belovarac, wildlife response curator at the Alaska SeaLife Center.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ultimately deemed Annautaq non-releasable, citing Pacific walruses\u2019 complete dependence on their mothers during the first year of life.<\/p>\n

\"\"Annautaq at SeaWorld Orlando (United Parks & Resorts)<\/p>\n

SeaWorld Orlando is well known for its walrus care \u2014 a reputation built in part by its existing herd: Garfield, 44, who was himself rescued as an orphaned calf and hand-raised at the park; Kaboodle, 23, an experienced surrogate mother; and Uki, 2, a rescued Pacific walrus calf who arrived from the Alaska SeaLife Center just two years<\/a> ago under similar circumstances.<\/p>\n

Annautaq is currently in a 30-day quarantine, receiving up to six bottle feedings daily of a specialized high-fat milk formula developed by SeaWorld\u2019s own veterinary team. Public viewing and herd introductions will be determined by his animal care team. In the meantime, guests can visit the park\u2019s resident walrus herd at the Expedition Odyssey habitat.<\/p>\n

In the Loop: Theme Park Scoops\"\"<\/p>\n

Sign up for the ClickOrlando.com In the Loop: Theme Park Scoops newsletter, sent every Friday.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 SeaWorld Orlando has added another rescued Pacific walrus calf to its growing herd. The theme…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1684,1335,139,141,140,9026,2411],"class_list":["post-434159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-animals","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-seaworld-orlando","tag-theme-parks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}