walrus

walrus, (Odobenus rosmarus), huge, seal-like mammal found in Arctic seas. There are two subspecies: the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) and the Pacific walrus (O. rosmarus divergens). Male Pacific walrus are slightly larger, with longer tusks.

The grayish skin of the walrus is 2–4 cm (1–2 inches) thick, with deep folds around the shoulders. The skin is covered with short reddish hair, giving the animals an overall cinnamon colour. The walrus has a rounded head, small eyes, and no external ears. Its muzzle is short and broad and has a conspicuous moustache of stiff, quill-like whiskers (vibrissae). The male, which reaches a maximum length and weight of about 3.7 metres (12 feet) and 1,700 kg (3,700 pounds), is about a third larger than the female.

Both sexes possess long tusks (the upper canine teeth) that project downward from the mouth. In the male they can grow to about a metre in length and 5.4 kg (12 pounds) in weight. The tusks function mainly in mating display and in defense against other walrus. They are not used to dig food from the ocean floor. The walrus feeds at depths of less than 80 metres (260 feet), usually at 10–50 metres (30–160 feet). Rooting along the ocean floor with its snout, it identifies prey with its whiskers. The walrus’s diet consists largely of clams and mussels but occasionally includes fish and even small seals.

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The walrus is a gregarious animal, living in groups sometimes numbering 100 or more. It does not frequent deep water, instead inhabiting coasts and margins of ice shelves, where it periodically hauls itself onto beaches and ice floes to rest and bask. Like the sea lion and fur seal (family Otariidae), the walrus can turn its hind flippers forward under its body when on land and can thus crawl using all four limbs. Males mate with multiple females in winter. Dominance is established among males according to body and tusk size. They display by showing their tusks and making clicking and bell-like sounds underwater. When a female is attracted, she joins the male, and mating occurs underwater. Delayed implantation of the fertilized egg results in a total gestation of 15–16 months. The single walrus pup weighs about 60 kg (130 pounds) at birth and remains with the female for two to three years. Sexual maturity occurs at six to seven years of age in females, eight to ten years in males. In the wild, walrus can live slightly more than 40 years. On rare occasions they are killed by polar bears or killer whales.

The walrus is valued by both the Inuit and commercial hunters for blubber, hide, and ivory tusks. Its numbers have been reduced by commercial operations. Walrus are now protected from sealers but are still subject to subsistence hunting by aboriginals. Like seals, the walrus is a pinniped. It is the sole living member of the family Odobenidae.