Walrus
Walruses are among the most vocal of the pinnipeds. They produce growls, taps, knocks, grunts, barks, soft whistles, rasps, and clicks. Male walruses also produce bell-like sounds underwater. This audiograph presents a walrus recording, with its waveform and spectrogram showing how the sound changes over time.
Walrus Facts
LATIN NAME Odobenus rosmarus.
LENGTH Pacific walrus males: 2.7–3.6 m (9–12 ft); females: 2.3–3.1 m (7.5–10 ft). Atlantic walruses are generally smaller.
WEIGHT Pacific walrus males: 800–1,700 kg (1,764–3,748 lb); females: 400–1,250 kg (882–2,756 lb).
LIFETIME Up to approximately 40 years.
PHYSICAL TRAITS A walrus has a rounded, fusiform body. Generally, walruses are cinnamon-brown overall. Limbs are adapted as flippers. A walrus’s head is square and broad with conspicuous tusks and whiskers. A walrus’s skin is thick and tough. It may reach a thickness of 2 to 4 cm (0.79–1.6 in). It is thickest on the neck and shoulders of adult males, where it protects the animal against jabs by the tusks of other walruses. They are of course distinguished by their long white tusks.
BEHAVIOR Walruses are among the most vocal of the pinnipeds, having a range of anatomical specializations that can provide plasticity to their sound emissions. They produce growls, taps, knocks, grunts, barks, soft whistles, rasps, and clicks. Male walruses produce bell-like sounds below water.
HABITAT Walruses live in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of the world near the North Pole. They generally forage in shallow coastal waters, often less than 80 m (262 ft) deep, and rest on sea ice or coastal land between feeding trips. Sea ice over continental shelves provides access to their feeding grounds.
LOCATIONS They can be found in Arctic waters and adjoining parts of the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Pacific walruses occur primarily in the Bering and Chukchi Seas; Atlantic walruses occur around northeastern Canada, Greenland, Svalbard, and the Russian Arctic.
FOOD They prefer feeding at the bottom of shallow waters, eating clams, other mollusks, worms, snails, soft-shell crabs, shrimp, and sea cucumbers. Resting on sea ice, they dive to forage on the sea bottom. When sea ice retreats beyond shallow feeding areas into deep water, walruses may have to swim farther between coastal resting sites and food. Large coastal gatherings can also put calves at risk of trampling when animals are disturbed.
PREDATORS Polar bears and killer whales. Young walruses are more vulnerable than large adults, which can defend themselves with their tusks.
