walrus

walrus

Physical appearence:

Length: Males range from 9 to 11 feet, females 7-10 feet.
Weight: Males can weigh up to 3,700 lbs, females up to up to 2,700 lbs.
Lifespan: Up to 40 years

Description:

Walruses are cinnamon brown in color. They are able to turn their hind flippers forward to aid in movement on land. Their front flippers are large and each has five digits. Males have special air sacs that are used to make a bell-like sound.
These marine mammals are extremely sociable, prone to loudly bellowing and snorting at one another, but are aggressive during mating season. With wrinkled brown and pink hides, walruses are distinguished by their long white tusks, grizzly whiskers, flat flipper, and bodies full of blubber.

Diet:

Mainly bivalve mollusks such as clams; also other benthic invertebrates such as marine worms, snails, sea cucumbers, squids, and crabs. Mainly eat polar cod and scavenge on seal carcasses. There are rare cases of very large, male walruses that habitually prey upon seals, especially ringed and bearded seals.




Habitat:

Canada; Greenland; Norway; Russian Federation; Svalbard and Jan Mayen; United States

Reproduction:

Calves are ashen gray to brown in color and weigh in from about 99-165 pounds at birth. They turn reddish brown within a few weeks and grow rapidly on their mothers’ milk.