Marine mammals
Walrus
Odobenus rosmarus
Epipelagic zone
Recognisable by its long tusks, used to haul itself out of the water and assert its social rank, it locates prey buried in the sediment using extremely fine sensory whiskers.
🗺️ Geographic range
Coastal Arctic waters around the North Pole: Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland.
📊 Population
Global population estimated by the IUCN at around 225,000 individuals, classified as vulnerable due to shrinking sea ice reducing its resting grounds.
⚠️ Threats
Shrinking sea ice
Shrinking sea ice reduces its resting and pupping grounds, forcing it into overcrowded gatherings on the few available beaches.
Source: IUCN — Red List of Threatened Species
Habitat
- Arctic Ocean · Sea Ice · Epipelagic zone · Permanent
🥚 Reproduction
Gestation of about 15 months, a single calf.
Behaviour
- Diet
- Bivalve molluscs, sucked from the seafloor after being detected by touch.
- Hunting
- Combs the seafloor with its snout and whiskers, sucking the flesh out of the shell.
- Communication
- Varied vocalisations, underwater clicking sounds.
- Social life
- Lives in large groups, sometimes several thousand on a single beach.
Physiology
- Anatomy
- Tusks that can exceed 1 m in males, a thick layer of insulating blubber.
- Respiration
- Pulmonary.
- Vision
- Modest, largely compensated for by touch.
- Adaptations
- Ultra-sensitive whiskers (vibrissae) able to make out the shape of prey buried under sand.
🔗 Web of marine life
Predators
⚡ Its extraordinary abilities
- Locates buried prey using hundreds of sensory whiskers
- Uses its tusks like ice axes to haul itself out of the water onto the pack ice
If you cross paths with this animal…
Risk: Low, but can become aggressive if disturbed on the ice, especially males.
Behaviour: Gregarious but unpredictable in groups.
Advice: Keep your distance from colonies, particularly during the breeding season.
💡 Did you know?
- Can suck a mollusc's flesh out of its shell like a vacuum cleaner.
- Its tusks keep growing throughout its life.
