Walrus

The walrus spends its days in open water near the shore or resting on ice floes. When there are no floes, it hauls out (pulls itself out of the sea) onto rocky shores, often alongside many other walruses. In limited space, walruses even lie on top of each other. Flat flippers, instead of feet enable the walrus to swim. The forelimbs serve as rudders. Out of the water the walrus can walk almost upright on all fours by turning its back flippers forward. The bumpy bottoms of the flippers help the walrus grip the ice. When ice spreads and thickens into pack ice in the winter, walruses usually head south. They can not break through the thick ice to make air holes to breathe through from underneath. Walruses' blubber (fat) and thick skin keep them warm in the freezing temperatures of the Arctic. Blubber may be as much as 6 inches thick.

Walruses have vocal cords and they produce sounds both above and below water. They are among the most vocal of the pinnipeds. They produce growls, taps, knocks, grunts, barks, soft whistles, rasps, and clicks.

Large herds of walruses gather during the breeding season. The bulls fight for cows, and the largest bulls with the longest tusks usually win. Each winner will mate with several females. Birth occurs about 15 months after mating often from April to June, as the herds are heading back north after the winter. The female hauls out onto an ice floe to give birth to a single calf measuring about 50 inches.

The walrus gathers its main food from the seabed, including clams, cockles, mussels, shrimp, worms, sea cucumbers, and even octopuses, as well as some fish. Sometimes a large bull will eat a seal that it has attacked with his tusks. Although it can dive as deep as 250 feet for up to 10 minutes, the walrus usually searches for food in much shallower water. The water that walrus feeds in are often murky, so it probably uses the sensitive bristles of its mustache to locate food. It may also uncover mollusks from soft mud by squirting water from its mouth.