Walrus

The Pacific Walrus is bigger than the Atlantic Walrus. Adult Male Pacific Walruses weigh up to 3,700 pounds and are about ten feet long. Adult Female Pacific Walruses weigh up to 2,700 pounds and are about nine feet long. A walrus has a rounded body. Their body tapers from the middle to each end. Its shape is like a spindle. Generally, walruses have chestnut coloring. Calves begin life colored pale gray to tan. Within ten days the calves turn to a yellow brown.

We humans call our front limbs arms but the walrus limbs over time became short and square flippers without hair. The skin on the flippers is dense and rough, allowing them to have good traction on the land and on the ice floes. Walruses have hind flippers too and each has five bony digits. Walruses use their hind flippers to move while swimming.

Their head is wide with whiskers and both the male and females have tusks. The male's tusks grow to about three feet long and the female's tusks grow to about 2 1/2 feet long. A walrus has about 500 whiskers on its nose and usually each adult walrus has 18 teeth. The Pacific Walrus has very small eyes and their ears are a little opening located behind their eyes.

The 3/4 to 1 1/2 inch skin is rugged and thickest on the male's neck and shoulders where it protects the animal by the tusks from other walruses. Hair is about 3 1/2 to six inches long over most of the body. The shortest hairs are on the Walrus' face and they have no hair on their flippers.

The Walrus has air sacs in their neck so they sleep with their head out of water. When asleep they look as they are standing in the water. Nursing females use this standing position when feeding the new born calves.

Walruses inhabit the areas around the terrestrial poles. They inhabit the environment in different areas of the poles so there is very little chance of interbreeding. The walruses known as Pacific Walruses live in the Bering, Chukchi, and Laptev seas. The walruses known as Atlantic Walruses live along the seaside areas of Northeastern Canada and Greenland. In this article I will speak about The Pacific Walrus.

Walrus watchers usually see the animal in deep water. They favor an environment with a soil, dirt or gravel bottom. The Walrus whether Atlantic or Pacific spend about two-thirds of their life in the water. Walruses leave the water to relax, rest and birth their young. They prefer a habitat with sea ice and choose moving ice bergs covered with some snow in preference to land. When ice bergs do not exist in their chosen environment they will leave the water to rest on little rocky islands. Most walruses prefer to live in an environment where the air temperature is about five to 41 degree, Ferenheit.

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