Navigation Bar Mammals Sea MammalsBirds  Odobenus Rosmarus
Everyone knows what a walrus looks like! Its long ivory tusks
are used for many things, including protection from attack by
polar bears, killer whales and local hunters in kayaks.  Walrus
are very slow on land because they are so big and clumsy, but in
the water they are very fast and strong.  They can dive down 300
feet to retrieve their favorite food, clams, from the sea
bottom. A walrus can eat 4,000 clams in one feeding!  Air sacs
in the walrus' neck allow it to sleep with its head held up in
the water. Nursing females use this standing position as they
nurse. The pups, born approximately every two years, nurse
upside down.  Walrus will dive into the water at the faintest
scent of a human.  Walrus numbers were very reduced by
commercial hunters until 1972 when the Marine Mammal Act started
protecting them.  Now only native people in the Arctic may hunt
them and the populations have grown in size. Native peoples in
the Arctic hunt the walrus for f