Walrus, Walrus

The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic Walrus ( O. rosmarus rosmarus ) found in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Walrus ( O. rosmarus divergens ) found in the Pacific Ocean, and O. rosmarus laptevi , found in the Laptev Sea.

Dansk Etymologisk Ordbog, Niels Age Nielsen, Gyldendal 1966 The now archaic English word for walrus morse is widely supposed to have come from the Slavic. "morse, n., etymology of" The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. http://dictionary.oed.com/ Thus (mor) in Russian, mors in Polish, also mursu in Finnish, mor in Saami, later morse in French, morsa in Spanish, mors in Romanian etc.

Its skin is highly wrinkled and thick, up to around the neck and shoulders of males. The blubber layer beneath is up to thick. Young walruses are deep brown and grow paler and more cinnamon colored as they age. Old males, in particular, become nearly pink. Because the blood vessels in the skin constrict in cold water, the walrus can appear almost white when swimming. As a secondary sexual characteristic, males also acquire significant nodules, called bosses , particularly around the neck and shoulders.

While some of these uses have faded with access to alternative technologies, walrus meat remains an important part of local diets, and tusk carving and engraving remain a vital art form among many communities.

An estimated four to seven thousand Pacific Walruses are harvested in Alaska and Russia, including a significant portion (approx. 42%) of struck and lost animals.

In particular, there have been well-documented reductions on the extent and thickness of the pack ice which the walrus relies on as a substrate for giving birth and aggregating in the reproductive period. It is hypothesized that thinner pack ice over the Bering Sea has reduced the amount of suitable resting habitat near optimal feeding grounds. This causes greater separation of lactating females from their calves leading to nutritional stress for the young or lower reproductive rates for the females.

For example, in a Chukchi version of the widespread myth of the Raven, in which Raven recovers the sun and the moon from an evil spirit by seducing his daughter, the angry father throws the daughter from a high cliff and, as she drops into the water, she turns into a walrus — possibly the original walrus. According to various versions, the tusks are formed either by the trails of mucus from the weeping girl or her long braids. W. Bogoras. (1902) The Folklore of Northeastern Asia, as Compared with That of Northwestern America.

Both in Chukotka and Alaska, the aurora borealis is believed to be a special world inhabited by those who died by violence, the changing rays representing deceased souls playing ball with a walrus head.

Source: Wikipedia > Walrus