December 22, 2025 • 11 mins
These arctic animals have complex social structures and may eat 6,000 clams in a single meal. Learn more walruses in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/walrus.htm/printable
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Lauren Vogelbaum. Here.
Each summer, for reasons we humans don't particularly understand, about
twelve thousand male Pacific walruses pack themselves onto the beaches
of Round Island, off the southwest coast of Alaska in
(00:22):
the Bering Sea. That's some nine million pounds worth of
walrus on a two mile long island. For a metric friends,
that's around four million kilos on a three kilometer stretch.
Known as rather gregarious creatures, the walruses may simply enjoy
one another's company, although they do occasionally jab a neighbor
with their long tusks to assert dominance. Or perhaps they're
(00:46):
trying to stay warm in the far below freezing temperatures.
Whatever they're up to, the female walruses are far away
in root, back from their yearly migration north, with calves
in tow. Whatever the reason for this month's long mail bonding,
it presents an ideal setting for scientists to study the mammal.
(01:07):
In the years since research began, biologists have learned a
lot about this hearty creature of the Arctic, whose name
possibly roots from a sort of funny combination of the
Dutch words for horse and whale. Walruses are the second
largest pinniped, which is an order of animals that also
include seals and sea lions. Only the elephant's seal can
(01:28):
grow larger. Walruses are also the only member of the
order to possess tusks, two especially long upper canines that
can reach lengths of three feet nearly a meter and
weigh twelve pounds each that's over five kilos. They primarily
use their tusks as built in tools for managing their
icy environments. They can hook their tusks into the ice
(01:52):
to pull themselves out of the water or just take
a break from swimming, or when underwater, break breathing holes
in the ice. Both the males and females have tusks,
but the males are longer, straighter, and stronger, and can
continue to grow for fifteen years. They do also use
them for establishing dominance when males get feisty. The especially
(02:13):
thick skin around their neck and shoulders protects them from
sharp jabs. Walruses are darkish brown in color and have
large round bodies. They seem clumsy on land, but after
all they spend About two thirds of their lives in water,
where they move easily and can dive down about the
length of an American football field. Walruses have four flippers
(02:35):
with rough bottoms to help provide traction on slippery snow
and ice. In the water, they can reach speeds of
about twenty miles an hour that's thirty five kilometers an hour.
There are two subspecies, the Atlantic walrus and the Pacific walrus,
which are totally isolated from each other. Pacific walruses are
a little bit bigger. They can top out at twelve
(02:57):
feet long that's three and a half meters and can
weigh up to thirty seven hundred pounds that's about seventeen
hundred kilos. In both subspecies, the males are a bit
bigger than the females. Walruses are located throughout the Arctic.
There are a lot more Pacific walruses and estimated two
hundred and fifty thousand versus only around fifty thousand Atlantic walruses.
(03:18):
Their populations are considered vulnerable due to previous overhunting and
now climate change. They are fabulously adapted for their environments.
Walruses live in one of the harshest environments on Earth,
temperatures are frigid, and again they spend most of their
time in the water, where you lose body heat a
lot faster. They have a thick layer of body fat
(03:42):
just under their skin that keeps them warm. It streamlines
their form and provides them with energy when the food
supply dips low. This blubbery layer can be up to
four inches thick some ten centimeters and may comprise a
whole third of the animal's body mass. In the winter,
the walrus blod vessels also con strict and move blood
(04:02):
away from skin and towards chief organs, where heat won't escape.
This is so effective that you can see it. When
a walrus has been under water for a long time,
its skin will go from pinkish to white. Their brown
hair is short and probably doesn't help in the warmth department.
Their circulation is also what helps them dive for long
(04:24):
periods without coming up for air. When they dive, their
heart rate slows and blood travels to the organs that
need the most oxygen. They also have a high level
of a protein called myoglobin in their blood. Myoglobin binds
to oxygen, carries it through the walrus's body and stores
it in the muscles. Because water doesn't allow for great visibility,
(04:46):
walruses have adapted other senses. The animal's ears too small
openings with protective flaps can detect noises up to a
mile away. That's over a kilometer and a half. Its
sense of smell can help it detect approaching predator and
identify its own young. In addition, a walrus has frankly
adorable whiskers, some four hundred to seven hundred of them
(05:08):
in thirteen to fifteen rows around the nose. They're attached
to muscles and supplied with blood and nerves, which makes
them highly sensitive. They use these whiskers to locate prey.
They hunt with their noses to the seafloor. They don't
actually use their tusks to dig for food, as previously thought,
but rather blow streams of water out of their nostrils
(05:31):
to stir up burrowing animals. They prefer clams, but will
eat anything they find, including worms, snails, crabs, and sea cucumbers.
Some of those animals have shells, and walruses don't chew
their food, so they can't crack the shells, but they
have an equally effective method. A walrus can use its
mouth as a vacuum to suck the animal right out
(05:53):
of its shell. This section is so powerful that in captivity,
walruses have sucked wholes and plywood and strict paint from walls.
Walruses consume some four to six percent of their body
weight every day, meaning an adult animal might consume six
thousand clans in one sitting. These animals have few predators
(06:15):
other than the occasional killer whale or brave polar bear.
Thus they tend to live relatively long life spans of
around thirty years. During their lifetimes, male and female walruses
live apart in separate herds. Females stay with the same
herd throughout their lives, and males leave their birth herd
after two or three years to join the male herd.
(06:37):
As we said at the top, Pacific female herds migrate
every year. We know less about the Atlantic walrus, but
they don't seem to migrate in the summer. When the
ice melts and recedes, the Pacific females head north then
return south before the ice freezes in the winter. Researchers
aren't sure why the males don't migrate to the same
(06:58):
extent that females do might have to do with sperm production.
The herds meet in the winter. When the females head south,
they'll congregate on an ice pack and basically be serenaded
by the males, which inflate pouches near their throat to
remain upright in the water and vocalize, clacking their teeth,
whistling and making bell sounds until one of the females
(07:20):
is impressed enough to come mate. Pregnancy lasts about fifteen months,
so calves are born in the spring during migration north.
Mothers are very protective of their young and may form
a separate nursery herd with other cows. Females stay close
to their newborns for at least a year and sometimes
over two years, and may nurse that entire time. Cows
(07:44):
often give their young rides on their backs, even though
calves can usually swim after just a month or so.
Those calves are big bundles of joy. They can weigh
from one hundred to one hundred and sixty pounds of
birth that's forty five to seventy five kilos. They tend
to be darker than the adults in color and get
lighter as they age. They're very social and seemingly smart creatures.
(08:07):
Young males have been observed keeping watch over injured walruses
and pushing dead or dying walruses off of ice floes
so that nearby hunters can't get to them. Female walruses
may also carry their dead young away from hunters. Though
walruses have few natural predators, humans have hunted them for
thousands of years for their meat, tusks, bones, skin, and oil.
(08:32):
In the mid to late eighteen hundreds, in particular, walrus oil,
created by boiling walrus blubber at high temperatures, was sought
for lamps, soap, and as a machine lubricant. From eighteen
sixty to eighteen eighty, some ten thousand walruses were killed
every year in the Eastern Arctic alone. Walrus hunting has
since been restricted generally only two native populations who have
(08:55):
traditionally relied on the walrus as a source of food
and other supplies. In Alaska, for example, peoples like the
Inupia and the Upic have historically used every part of
the animal. Stomachs can be made into containers and drums,
a skins made into boat covers and rope, and ivory
is used in art. Local management keeps harvests within sustainable limits.
(09:21):
In the United States, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of
nineteen seventy two protects the walrus from hunters and prohibits
the trade of walrus ivory. Only ivory that predates the
law or has been carved by an Alaska native can
legally be sold. Other national and international laws protect the
animals from harvest and restrict global trade of walrus products.
(09:44):
These measures have stabilized walrus populations, but unfortunately they now
face another threat, global warming. As Earth's average temperature increases,
more and more ice in the polar region recedes. This
could be devastating to walruses because they depend on the
ice shelves as a resting ground between dives. The shallow
(10:08):
waters where walruses like to feed now have little or
no ice for mothers and babies to rest on when feeding.
As a result, mothers may have to travel farther to
reach feeding and resting grounds. This means they may become
separated from their young. Areas that do have ice shelves
are deeper, and the walruses aren't accustomed to diving that
(10:29):
deep for food. Only time will tell whether the walrus
can adapt to the longer commute and deeper dives required
because of the ICE's retreat. Today's episode is based on
the article how Walruses work on how stuffworks dot Com,
written by Jennifer Wharton. Brain Stuff is production by Heart
(10:51):
Radio in partnership with how Stuffwork dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from My heart Radio,
visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherevery listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Lauren Vogelbaum. Here.
Each summer, for reasons we humans don't particularly understand, about
twelve thousand male Pacific walruses pack themselves onto the beaches
of Round Island, off the southwest coast of Alaska in
(00:22):
the Bering Sea. That's some nine million pounds worth of
walrus on a two mile long island. For a metric friends,
that's around four million kilos on a three kilometer stretch.
Known as rather gregarious creatures, the walruses may simply enjoy
one another's company, although they do occasionally jab a neighbor
with their long tusks to assert dominance. Or perhaps they're
(00:46):
trying to stay warm in the far below freezing temperatures.
Whatever they're up to, the female walruses are far away
in root, back from their yearly migration north, with calves
in tow. Whatever the reason for this month's long mail bonding,
it presents an ideal setting for scientists to study the mammal.
(01:07):
In the years since research began, biologists have learned a
lot about this hearty creature of the Arctic, whose name
possibly roots from a sort of funny combination of the
Dutch words for horse and whale. Walruses are the second
largest pinniped, which is an order of animals that also
include seals and sea lions. Only the elephant's seal can
(01:28):
grow larger. Walruses are also the only member of the
order to possess tusks, two especially long upper canines that
can reach lengths of three feet nearly a meter and
weigh twelve pounds each that's over five kilos. They primarily
use their tusks as built in tools for managing their
icy environments. They can hook their tusks into the ice
(01:52):
to pull themselves out of the water or just take
a break from swimming, or when underwater, break breathing holes
in the ice. Both the males and females have tusks,
but the males are longer, straighter, and stronger, and can
continue to grow for fifteen years. They do also use
them for establishing dominance when males get feisty. The especially
(02:13):
thick skin around their neck and shoulders protects them from
sharp jabs. Walruses are darkish brown in color and have
large round bodies. They seem clumsy on land, but after
all they spend About two thirds of their lives in water,
where they move easily and can dive down about the
length of an American football field. Walruses have four flippers
(02:35):
with rough bottoms to help provide traction on slippery snow
and ice. In the water, they can reach speeds of
about twenty miles an hour that's thirty five kilometers an hour.
There are two subspecies, the Atlantic walrus and the Pacific walrus,
which are totally isolated from each other. Pacific walruses are
a little bit bigger. They can top out at twelve
(02:57):
feet long that's three and a half meters and can
weigh up to thirty seven hundred pounds that's about seventeen
hundred kilos. In both subspecies, the males are a bit
bigger than the females. Walruses are located throughout the Arctic.
There are a lot more Pacific walruses and estimated two
hundred and fifty thousand versus only around fifty thousand Atlantic walruses.
(03:18):
Their populations are considered vulnerable due to previous overhunting and
now climate change. They are fabulously adapted for their environments.
Walruses live in one of the harshest environments on Earth,
temperatures are frigid, and again they spend most of their
time in the water, where you lose body heat a
lot faster. They have a thick layer of body fat
(03:42):
just under their skin that keeps them warm. It streamlines
their form and provides them with energy when the food
supply dips low. This blubbery layer can be up to
four inches thick some ten centimeters and may comprise a
whole third of the animal's body mass. In the winter,
the walrus blod vessels also con strict and move blood
(04:02):
away from skin and towards chief organs, where heat won't escape.
This is so effective that you can see it. When
a walrus has been under water for a long time,
its skin will go from pinkish to white. Their brown
hair is short and probably doesn't help in the warmth department.
Their circulation is also what helps them dive for long
(04:24):
periods without coming up for air. When they dive, their
heart rate slows and blood travels to the organs that
need the most oxygen. They also have a high level
of a protein called myoglobin in their blood. Myoglobin binds
to oxygen, carries it through the walrus's body and stores
it in the muscles. Because water doesn't allow for great visibility,
(04:46):
walruses have adapted other senses. The animal's ears too small
openings with protective flaps can detect noises up to a
mile away. That's over a kilometer and a half. Its
sense of smell can help it detect approaching predator and
identify its own young. In addition, a walrus has frankly
adorable whiskers, some four hundred to seven hundred of them
(05:08):
in thirteen to fifteen rows around the nose. They're attached
to muscles and supplied with blood and nerves, which makes
them highly sensitive. They use these whiskers to locate prey.
They hunt with their noses to the seafloor. They don't
actually use their tusks to dig for food, as previously thought,
but rather blow streams of water out of their nostrils
(05:31):
to stir up burrowing animals. They prefer clams, but will
eat anything they find, including worms, snails, crabs, and sea cucumbers.
Some of those animals have shells, and walruses don't chew
their food, so they can't crack the shells, but they
have an equally effective method. A walrus can use its
mouth as a vacuum to suck the animal right out
(05:53):
of its shell. This section is so powerful that in captivity,
walruses have sucked wholes and plywood and strict paint from walls.
Walruses consume some four to six percent of their body
weight every day, meaning an adult animal might consume six
thousand clans in one sitting. These animals have few predators
(06:15):
other than the occasional killer whale or brave polar bear.
Thus they tend to live relatively long life spans of
around thirty years. During their lifetimes, male and female walruses
live apart in separate herds. Females stay with the same
herd throughout their lives, and males leave their birth herd
after two or three years to join the male herd.
(06:37):
As we said at the top, Pacific female herds migrate
every year. We know less about the Atlantic walrus, but
they don't seem to migrate in the summer. When the
ice melts and recedes, the Pacific females head north then
return south before the ice freezes in the winter. Researchers
aren't sure why the males don't migrate to the same
(06:58):
extent that females do might have to do with sperm production.
The herds meet in the winter. When the females head south,
they'll congregate on an ice pack and basically be serenaded
by the males, which inflate pouches near their throat to
remain upright in the water and vocalize, clacking their teeth,
whistling and making bell sounds until one of the females
(07:20):
is impressed enough to come mate. Pregnancy lasts about fifteen months,
so calves are born in the spring during migration north.
Mothers are very protective of their young and may form
a separate nursery herd with other cows. Females stay close
to their newborns for at least a year and sometimes
over two years, and may nurse that entire time. Cows
(07:44):
often give their young rides on their backs, even though
calves can usually swim after just a month or so.
Those calves are big bundles of joy. They can weigh
from one hundred to one hundred and sixty pounds of
birth that's forty five to seventy five kilos. They tend
to be darker than the adults in color and get
lighter as they age. They're very social and seemingly smart creatures.
(08:07):
Young males have been observed keeping watch over injured walruses
and pushing dead or dying walruses off of ice floes
so that nearby hunters can't get to them. Female walruses
may also carry their dead young away from hunters. Though
walruses have few natural predators, humans have hunted them for
thousands of years for their meat, tusks, bones, skin, and oil.
(08:32):
In the mid to late eighteen hundreds, in particular, walrus oil,
created by boiling walrus blubber at high temperatures, was sought
for lamps, soap, and as a machine lubricant. From eighteen
sixty to eighteen eighty, some ten thousand walruses were killed
every year in the Eastern Arctic alone. Walrus hunting has
since been restricted generally only two native populations who have
(08:55):
traditionally relied on the walrus as a source of food
and other supplies. In Alaska, for example, peoples like the
Inupia and the Upic have historically used every part of
the animal. Stomachs can be made into containers and drums,
a skins made into boat covers and rope, and ivory
is used in art. Local management keeps harvests within sustainable limits.
(09:21):
In the United States, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of
nineteen seventy two protects the walrus from hunters and prohibits
the trade of walrus ivory. Only ivory that predates the
law or has been carved by an Alaska native can
legally be sold. Other national and international laws protect the
animals from harvest and restrict global trade of walrus products.
(09:44):
These measures have stabilized walrus populations, but unfortunately they now
face another threat, global warming. As Earth's average temperature increases,
more and more ice in the polar region recedes. This
could be devastating to walruses because they depend on the
ice shelves as a resting ground between dives. The shallow
(10:08):
waters where walruses like to feed now have little or
no ice for mothers and babies to rest on when feeding.
As a result, mothers may have to travel farther to
reach feeding and resting grounds. This means they may become
separated from their young. Areas that do have ice shelves
are deeper, and the walruses aren't accustomed to diving that
(10:29):
deep for food. Only time will tell whether the walrus
can adapt to the longer commute and deeper dives required
because of the ICE's retreat. Today's episode is based on
the article how Walruses work on how stuffworks dot Com,
written by Jennifer Wharton. Brain Stuff is production by Heart
(10:51):
Radio in partnership with how Stuffwork dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from My heart Radio,
visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherevery listen
to your favorite shows.
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