The walrus is one of the more exotic and interesting species in
Greenland, though its numbers are relatively small. Of the several
hundred thousand walruses in the world, only a few thousand live
on or near this island. These huge elephant-like, ocean swimmers
are marine mammals in the same family as seals of which, apart from
the elephant seal, they are the largest.
Eric Born:
1. Climate change impacts the walrus of Greenland.
2. How walrus use their whiskers to hunt for shellfish.
Average mature males weigh more than 2,500 pounds and measure up to 10 feet.
Females are just a little smaller. Tusks, which can grow to three
feet, are actually huge canine teeth, used for a variety of purposes
including as weapons against intruders, as aids for climbing slippery
slopes, and as status symbols within herds. Scientists used to think
that the tusks were used for digging food as well, but recent research
shows that they are rarely used that way. Walruses live most of
their lives swimming at sea. The rest of their time they lie on
floating sea ice or on land at favorite "haul-outs."
Walruses live throughout the Artic, in Hudson Bay, in Alaska near
the Bering Strait, in far northern Russia and Norway and on both
coasts of Greenland. However walrus hunting has decimated the Greenland
walrus population. Between 1900 and 1978 sealers killed 12,000 walruses.
They were harvested primarily for their blubber and, of course,
for their tusks. Walruses are still hunted in Greenland, though
today it is only the tusk that remains valuable. Hides and blubber
are used for dog food.
There are only two land-based haul-outs in Greenland now, both in
the Northeast Greenland National Park, where several thousand walruses
congregate. There are no haul-outs left on the west coast. Eric
Born, of Greenland Institute of Natural Resources studies marine
mammals, including walruses and polar bears. He says his research
shows that global warming will help walruses, at least in the short
term.
Walruses
See photos of walrus on the beaches in Greenland.
