A slightly overweight, self-centred beast who went viral for being a w**ker this week has finally moved on from the UK – and sadly, I’m not referring to Piers Morgan.
No, this particular mammal was Thor, a huge walrus who chose to spend his New Year’s Eve in the popular northern seaside town of Scarborough.
The incredible marine animal had hauled himself up onto the harbour slipway in the North Yorkshire town, drawing thousands of fascinated locals to see him.
And unlike his viral walrus counterpart Freya – who was euthanised for posing a ‘threat to human safety’ after people got too close to her – Thor was left in peace until he was rested enough to continue his journey north.
His little holiday in Scarborough even led to the local New Year’s Eve fireworks display being cancelled, after the British Divers Marine Life Rescue advised that the loud noises could ‘distress’ the walrus.
Instead, crowds flocked down to see the huge creature hanging out in their town – and got to witness him… ahem… pleasuring himself in front of onlookers.
ADVERTISEMENT
A video viewed almost four million times was captioned: “There’s a walrus lost in scarborough. So hes just decided to knock one out in front of us all on the pier. no fucks given.”
Someone else sharing the video wrote: “A walrus named Thor stopped by Scarborough to masturbate and rest on his journey in the North Sea, prompting the city to cancel its New Year’s Eve fireworks to avoid disturbing him. This is the energy we need in 2023.”
Other more family-friendly videos show him scratching his nose, having a slow wander about, and generally chilling out by the water.
ADVERTISEMENT
Since he moved on from Scarborough, he was spotted relaxing on a pontoon up in Blyth, Northumberland, but moved on again early this morning.
An incredible Twitter thread by Bethan Clyne, a marine mammal medic with BDMLR, detailed the ‘gruelling but rewarding’ 14 hours they spent monitoring Thor the walrus in Scarborough.
What a surreal day! Arriving on site at 3am 31/12/2022 and spending a grueling but rewarding 14hrs closely monitoring 'Thor'.
It's been an absolute honour and a privilege to be involved from the start and be part of such an amazing @BDMLR team.
Her updates included that he remained ‘relatively unphased and comfortable’ despite the huge crowds who came out to see him.
Bethan wrote: “As Medics, we also devoted a large amount of our time to the public. I really enjoyed talking and educating 100’s upon 100’s of the interested, respectful members of the public. Some were so kind to offer drinks, food and encouraging words to keep us going in the rain and cold!”
She added: “After hours of him teasing us (I thought he was going to rest again) I was so excited and relieved when he finally made his way back to sea! We sprinted to the end of the harbour where we watched him surface a few times before disappearing into the darkness.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Thor the walrus is now expected to make his way up north, but may pause again for another break (hopefully he keeps it PG this time) somewhere along the Scottish coastline.
Featured image: TikTok @andysheadz / Twitter @BDMLR
Trending
A tribute festival in memory of Mani from The Stone have been announced
Danny Jones
After plenty of talk and rumours ever since his passing, a tribute festival in memory of Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield will honour the late great Stone Roses and Primal Scream bass player later this year.
Despite various organisations and regional residents having observed their own memorial services following his death on 20 November 2025, the city and Greater Manchester as a whole made it clear that they wanted to carry out a more dedicated form of remembrance.
And we couldn’t agree more.
Deciding to remember him in the past best way possible – by celebrating one of his greatest loves and legacies: music – ‘Manichester’ festival will be held this spring.
Hosted in partnership with Madchester.com and simply dubbed as “a tribute to a true Manc legend”, names both new, old and current will be joining the inaugural Manichester lineup.
Organised by the website and iconic Manchester streetwear brand GIOGOI, not to mention being “blessed by Mani’s family” directly, artists playing will range from those who were lucky enough to have played with him or, like us all, were simply left inspired by his unforgettable basslines.
As well as a ‘AAA headliner’ still yet to be confirmed, there are some serious legendary names on here, both local and beyond; at the minute, the roster of acts is looking like this:
Manichester 2026 lineup
Cast
Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order)
The Kowloons
A “specially assembled core band” featuring Aziz Ibrahim (The Stone Roses), Rowetta, Simone Butler (formerly Primal Scream) and Mick Rossi (Slaughter and The Dogs)
Dave McCabe (The Zutons)
Baz Fratelli (The Fratellis)
Zak Starkey (Mantra of the Cosmos)
Steve White (ex-Oasis drummer)
Jon McClure (Reverend and the Makers)
However, as they have teased in the announcement, “that’s just the start”, and with more names incoming, many are already trying to guess who the headliner could be. Some have even suggested Ian Brown himself might get up on the stage…
As per an official statement, key artwork for the event comes from the one and only and equally influential Stone Roses guitarist, John Squire, whose new designs will feature on flyers, limited-edition physical tickets and other promotional materials.
Manichester will take place on Saturday May 30, doors open 2pm.
Most importantly, all the proceeds from the special one-off in memoriam show will go towards Mani’s and Imelda’s twin boys, Gene and George – and who knows? This could be the start of a brand-new annual festival spawned in the name of a very special Mancunian.
GIOGOI added: “Manchester is the best city in the world, and we do things differently here. This is Manchester showing up. This is Madchester showing love. This is ‘Manichester’.“
Taking place on Saturday, 30 May and held at Diecast on Ducie Street in Manchester city centre from 2pm, it’s sure to be a momentous ocassions with thoughts of Mani and his family looming large in everyone’s minds.
The Premier League is keeping its crucial cap on away game ticket prices – for now
Danny Jones
The Premier League has announced it is extending its crucial price cap for away games, as the general cost of match tickets continues to creep up all over the country.
Most season card holders, be they here in Greater Manchester or elsewhere, are likely looking at their annual spending going up simply, so steps like these are key in keeping first division football as affordable as possible.
And that’s just the ongoing cost of living, let alone the clubs that are continuing the trend of charging more each year and, unfortunately, even pricing some supporters out entirely.
With that in mind, the news of England’s top-flight sides voting unanimously to keep the £30 cap intact for at least another two years comes as relief to those who spend most of the year putting their hard-earned cash towards following their team home and away.
BREAKING: The Premier League extend £30 cap on away tickets for another two seasons 🚨 pic.twitter.com/L336aZwmn3
Now confirmed to remain in place until the end of the 2027/28 campaign, travelling fans obviously still spend plenty of money on transport and so on every year, but at least they don’t have to worry about rising general admissions.
At least not for the time being…
Writing in a statement, the Premier League said: “Away fans help create the incredible atmosphere Premier League matches are renowned for. Since the cap’s implementation in 2016, it has contributed to attendance at away games increasing from 82% to 91%.”
They also acknowledged the significant and regular funds that supporters still spend on these trips, with plenty of people online also praising the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), which helped spearhead the campaign over a decade ago.
With so many other obstacles still getting in the way of fans making it to games either at their usual stadium or on an away day – not least of all the constant and increasingly frustrating rescheduling of fixtures – it’s good to see this isn’t an area the Prem are trying to target.
As always, the multi-billion-pound business can always seek out other, newer money spinners, and we’re absolutley certain they will. For instance, there’s at least one happening over in Spain that we’d happily see carried over here.
Following the news, this now means that fans will ultimately have enjoyed 12 back-to-back seasons of the benefit, and long may it continue.
Nevertheless, the biggest barrier for people to watch the beautiful game at its highest level in the UK remains the cost of standard tickets.
The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Leeds and more have already let matchgoers know that their season ticket prices will be going up, and the likes of Man City have already seen backlash for increasing rates amid the expansion of the Etihad Campus.
Daisy Jackson -
3rd January 2023 
