Austral walrus

Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)

The Austral or Patagonian Walrus, also referred to as the Chilean Walrus, is a cryptid sea mammal reportedly native to the southernmost waters of South America, particularly around the Strait of Magellan, Chiloé, and Tierra del Fuego.

The earliest account of this mysterious creature appears in the works of Dutch explorer Jan Huyghen van Linschoten (1563–1611). In his 16th Century travelogue, van Linschoten included a series of illustrations documenting the strange animals and peoples encountered along the Strait of Magellan. One image, labeled simply as “Animal of the Strait of Magellan,” depicts a seal-like creature with a long, thin tail and two large, walrus-like tusks protruding from its mouth - a startling and unique combination not known among any currently living marine mammal.

Van Linschoten was no mere armchair geographer; in 1598, he piloted the Dutch fleet on its first voyage via the Southwest Passage - through the Strait of Magellan - to reach India. This lends credibility to the idea that he personally witnessed the fauna he illustrated, or at least had access to trustworthy firsthand accounts from sailors and explorers.

Further support for the existence of such a creature may be found in scattered folklore and early naturalist reports from the Chiloé Archipelago and Tierra del Fuego. These accounts often describe “horned sea beasts” or “sea oxen,” which were sometimes dismissed as misidentified cattle seen swimming in the surf. However, if we reinterpret the reported "horns" as tusks, these stories may align more closely with sightings of a tusked marine mammal - perhaps even the same kind of creature van Linschoten depicted.

Adding to the plausibility is the fossil record. While the modern walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is native only to the Arctic, fossilized remains of walrus-like pinnipeds have been discovered as far south as Peru and Chile, suggesting their range was once much broader. Notably, the extinct genus Odobenocetops - a tusked whale with similarities to both walruses and dolphins - lived along the South American Pacific coast, supporting the idea that tusked marine mammals thrived in the region thousands of years ago.

Odobenocetops

To this day, occasional unverified sightings of walrus-like creatures in the southern waters of Chile and Argentina continue to be reported, though they are often dismissed or go uninvestigated.

If the Chilean Walrus once existed, it may now be extinct, a victim of changing climates, hunting, or ecological competition. But if not, perhaps the icy fjords and remote coastlines of Patagonia still hide a remnant population of this elusive, tusked marine cryptid - an echo of the megafauna that once ruled the southern seas.