A wandering walrus nicknamed Thor has arrived in east Iceland following a recent visit to the UK.

The hefty mammal visited the Netherlands and Dieppe in northern France last year before he was spotted on the south coast of England around mid-December. He became a sensation because walruses are rare visitors to the UK. He later travelled north to Scarborough, a town on the east coast of England, where local people cancelled New Year’s Eve fireworks to avoid distressing him.

Thor arrived at the Icelandic fishing town of Breiðdalsvík on 24 February, where he turned his nose up at frozen fish offered by a harbour guard, according to the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RUV.

As in the UK, he has drawn the attention of local people, who have taken photos of him while passing by. Walruses were once present around Iceland, but the local population was driven to extinction centuries ago.

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Although Thor is an “amazing thing to see”, he should be left alone to rest so as not to expend energy unnecessarily, Rod Downie at conservation charity WWF-UK, told the BBC.

The walrus is thought to be an adolescent Atlantic walrus, aged between 3 and 5 years old, who wandered south from the Canadian Arctic. He is now thought to be journeying back north to colder waters, taking rests on the way. Fully grown male Atlantic walruses reach lengths of up to 2.4 metres and weights of up to 900 kilograms.

“After Thor’s visit to the UK we wondered if we would ever see him again,” a spokesperson from conservation charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue told the BBC. “We are delighted to have been informed that he is in Iceland.”

Climate change and over-hunting means walruses are vulnerable to extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A warming climate will cause the melting of Arctic sea ice on which the animals rest, breed and give birth.