Walrus

The walrus is magnificently adapted to life in the sea and on ice. Detect out all well-nigh them with this fact file.

Walruses

Walruses flush pink when basking in the sun

Walruses flush pink when basking in the sun

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Guild: Carnivora
Family: Odobenidae
Genus: Odobenus

Overview

Walruses can counterbalance upwardly to 1,600 kilograms (3,527 pounds) and abound upwardly to 3.vii metres in length. Their tusks can measure a whopping one metre and they tin can alive for upwards to 50 years in the wild.

The walrus is magnificently adapted to life in the sea and on water ice. Its scientific name (Odobenus rosmarus) derives from a combination of Greek and Scandinavian words meaning "molar walking sea dog". They don't actually walk on their teeth just often booty themselves upward onto the water ice using their enormous tusks. Although related to the seal and sea panthera leo, the walrus is a single species divided into two kinds: the Atlantic and Pacific walrus.

Habitat

During the Artic winter the walrus heads s but has no difficulty keeping warm due to its thick, deeply wrinkled pare and up to 7 centimetres of underlying blubber.

Diet

Walrus need to consume huge quantities of food earlier searching for land in the Arctic summertime. The staple diet is clams and other molluscs (thousands each solar day); the walrus dives to the ocean floor and scans for food with its whiskers.

Breeding

The walrus mates in the h2o between Jan and March with the average gestation being fifteen months. A unmarried pup (measuring about 125 centimetres) is born on the ice and is dependant on its female parent's milk for at to the lowest degree xviii months before it can become good at swimming and leave to join other youngsters at near two-years-old.

Walruses use their tusks for fighting rivals

Walruses use their tusks for fighting rivals

In Motion

The walrus on land is an awkward, lumbering fauna merely, once at sea, is graceful and powerful. A cone shaped body and huge rear flippers (up to a metre beyond) mean the walrus tin easily attain speeds of 10 kilometres (six miles) per hour and swoop to depths of 300 metres.

Encounters

Jim McNeill, Founder and Leader of the Water ice Warrior Project, had a close encounter with a Walrus.

My nigh memorable encounter with walrus came when I inadvertently surprised a whole floating ice island total of the creatures doing what they do best – sleeping!

My boat came circular the back of an iceberg and went within x metres of this pan of ice. The walrus actually went mad, all splashing in the water together, causing a mini-tidal wave for the boat I was in. Everyone on board got a fright!

Polar bears will hunt walruses

Polar bears will hunt walruses

Threats

Polar bears rarely accept on an developed walrus whose tusks can inflict fatal wounds. They will, however, charge into a walrus herd and take a pup. The walrus also occasionally falls victim to a hungry killer whale.

Historically, hunting and commercial ships accept posed the biggest threat and the walrus remains very wary of man. The Marine Mammal Protection Deed of 1972 has seen the population of Atlantic walrus grow to between 10 and l thousand, simply the Eskimos are nonetheless legally allowed to hunt walrus inside limits. Global warming and the erosion of sea ice volition reduce the creatures' calving grounds.

Inuit Culture

The Inuit's traditional way of life depends substantially on their ability to chase walrus. Also every bit providing food for themselves and their dogs, walrus skin and bones are used for habiliment, tools, weapons and hide boats, while the oil is used for lighting and heating. The tusks are carved into ivory ornaments (chosen scrimshaw).

Walrus Trivia

  • Walrus stomach, buried in snow until the winter months, is an Inuit delicacy.
  • The Eskimo mother traditionally used a clamper of walrus blab on a stick as a dummy for her infant.
  • The walrus has sacs in its throat which information technology can fill up with air, enabling him to sleep at sea.
  • Bull walruses use the length of their tusks as a ranking organisation – the longer the tusks, the higher up in the herd and the more than likely to attract a mate.
  • Yous tin establish the age of a walrus by looking at a cross section of its tusks (they have rings).
  • The longest tusk recorded was 94 centimetres and weighed over five kilograms (eleven pounds).
  • The penis of the bull walrus is hidden away within his body.

Farther Reading

Walrus Enquiry
Scott Polar Research Institute
Ice Warrior