What do walruses eat, and where are they mainly found?
The walrus is a relatively large marine animal, with long tusks similar to those of an elephant, a plump body, and limbs that have degenerated into flippers, so on land it moves by crawling. Apart from seeing walruses on television, the place where we most often see them is the zoo, where trainers often lead them to perform for audiences, which is very interesting. So what do walruses eat? And where are they mainly found? Let us learn about this together below.
1. What do walruses usually eat?
The walrus is an omnivorous animal. Although it lives in the ocean, it does not live by eating fish. They usually eat some molluscs, and also eat shrimp, squid, crabs, and worms, and will also consume a small amount of organic matter from the seabed or relatively tender aquatic plants in the water.
The walrus's specific hunting process involves inserting its long tusks into the seabed, then constantly swinging them to stir up the sand and mud on the seabed, and then using its flexible whiskers and very sensitive nose to search for food on the seabed. If it is shellfish, they use the inner side of their rough palms to clamp and rub them, and after the shellfish is broken, they begin to float their bodies to the surface and open their palms, so that the shellfish meat and shell can be separated. The meat floats on the sea surface, and they suck the meat into their mouths by diving down again. Seen this way, they are very clever.
There are also some claims that they prey on smaller seals or narwhals, using their powerful forelimbs to hold the other tightly, pressing it down in the water until it drowns, and then savouring and enjoying it carefully.
2. Where are walruses mainly found?
The walrus is a species unique to the Arctic, generally found in the zone centred on the Arctic Ocean, and also including the northernmost parts of the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.
Native distribution areas: Greenland, Canada, Russia, Norway, Svalbard, the United States, and Jan Mayen.
Vagrant areas (sea areas): Germany, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, France, Iceland, Japan, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
The walrus is a marine animal that is very sensitive to changes in the marine environment. Nowadays, because many marine areas are undergoing large-scale extraction of natural gas and oil, the ocean has been polluted. Many walruses sense that their habitats have already been polluted, so they cannot continue to live there, and their distribution gradually shrinks, while the number of walruses also slowly decreases.
In addition, the economic value of walrus ivory is very high. Many lawbreakers catch walruses with hunting tools to seize the ivory, making them feel a very great threat, so their numbers have plummeted.
In summary: no matter which kind of marine life it is, existence is reasonable. It is unacceptable for people to harm them with endless greed and desire in order to seek profit. We must cherish nature and live in harmony with animals.