Pacific Walrus with Each Lie Other; on Young Top Often of the Adults
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Walrus Odobenus rosemarus divergens Walruses, whose Latin name translates as “tooth-walking sea horse”, are found in the Northern Hemisphere along the perimeter of the Arctic Ocean and sub- arctic seas. The Pacific population ranges across the international boundaries of the United States and Russia. Pacific walrus distribution varies seasonally and is limited by water depth and ice conditions. It is considered an ice-dependent species because it uses floating sea ice for birthing and nursing calves, resting, isolation from predators, and for passive transport to new feeding areas. Most of the population spends the summer months in the pack-ice of the Chukchi Sea; however several thousand animals, primarily adult males, use coastal haulouts in the Bering Sea during the ice-free season. USFWS Appearance Walrus are extremely social and gregarious animals. They tend to travel and Walrus are large and powerful animals. haulout onto ice or land in groups. Walrus prefer to lie in close physical contact Males are approximately 20% longer and with each other; young often lie on top of the adults. 50% heavier than females. Males also tend to have more massive skulls and Like most diving marine mammals, minutes, with a relatively short surface tusks. walrus store oxygen in their blood and interval of 1 to 2 minutes. muscles. Due to this adaptation, they Adult females can reach lengths of up have an enormous blood volume; up to two Reproduction to 10 feet and weigh approximately to three times larger than a terrestrial Walruses are long lived animals, up 1,200 to 2,500 pounds. After the first few animal of comparable size. to 40 years or more, with low rates of years of life, the growth rate of female reproduction. Most females attain full walruses declines rapidly and they reach Feeding Habits reproductive potential at 4 to 9 years a maximum body size by approximately Walruses are highly specialized benthic of age. Male walruses become fertile 10 years of age. Males tend to grow (ocean bottom) feeders. Bivalve mollusks at 5 to 7 years of age; however do not faster and for a longer period of time (clams) are their most common food; usually mate until they reach full physical than females. They usually do not reach a however, other invertebrates such as maturity at 15 to 16 years of age. Adult full adult body size, 10 to 12 feet in length sea cucumbers, crabs, and segmented males compete for choice areas near and weighing as much as 4,000 pounds, worms are also frequently found in their the females, and perform elaborate until they are 15 to 16 years of age. stomachs.Walrus frequently feed at night visual and acoustic displays in the water. and in murky water, suggesting that the Individual females leave the herd to Special Adaptations sensitivity of their whiskers may be more join a courting male in the water where Blubber serves as an efficient insulation important than vision in locating food breeding occurs. layer in the cold marine environment items. Walrus feed intermittently, hauling and plays an important role in energy out on land or ice floes to rest between Breeding occurs in late winter, from storage. Blubber is a dynamic tissue and foraging bouts. Feeding trips can last up January through March, in areas of its thickness can vary greatly depending to several days, during which they dive broken ice. The embryo implants in the upon the nutritional state and life history to the bottom nearly continuously. Most uterus in late June, three to four months stage of the animal. feeding dives last between 5 and 10 after breeding occurs, and the fetus resumes development for eleven months. of 129,000 walruses. Calves are usually born in late April or May. Conservation and Management Pacific walruses are an important To compensate for their low reproductive subsistence resource in Alaska and rate, walruses have relatively low rates of Chukotka. Since the 1960s, U.S./Russia natural mortality. The mother-calf bond harvest levels have ranged from 3,200 to is extremely strong; the calf normally 16,000 animals/year. Population research, remains in her care for at least 2 years, harvest monitoring programs, local sometimes longer if not replaced by management efforts, and international a new calf. A mother walrus is very coordination are necessary to ensure that USFWS protective of her new-born calf and will harvest levels remain sustainable. Adult female hauled out on sea ice defend it with vigor. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with her calf. and Eskimo Walrus Commission waters where walrus feed and the number Population Trends work together to address subsistence of walruses using coastal resting areas has The current size and trend of the Pacific harvest issues in Alaska through a formal increased. Local management programs walrus population is unknown. Previous co-management agreement, and and conservation initiatives are going to efforts to estimate abundance have coordinate with Russian scientists and become increasingly important for the met with limited success because the subsistence user groups to monitor co-existence of walruses and humans population is distributed over such a subsistence walrus harvests in Chukotka. along the Arctic coast. large and generally inaccessible area. For more information, contact: A joint U.S./Russia aerial survey was Observed and projected trends of conducted in April, 2006. Thermal diminishing sea ice habitat over shallow U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska infrared scanners were used to detect continental shelf waters and the expansion 1011 E. Tudor Road, MS-341 walruses resting on pack ice in the of commercial activities into the Arctic Anchorage, Alaska 99503 Bering Sea. Satellite telemetry tags present significant conservation and 907/786 3800 or 800/362 5148 were used to account for diving animals management challenges for this species. In http://alaska.fws.gov not detected by scanners. Survey efforts recent years, summer sea ice has retreated produced a minimum population estimate beyond the shallow continental shelf January 2011.