You Are Walrus On My Mind Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tooth Walkers

From the Greek, "Odobenidae" means "Tooth Walker" and refers, of course, to those unmistakable tusks. The family Odobenidae is comprised of Pacific walruses (O. rosmarus divergens)and Atlantic walruses (O. rosmarus rosmarus). A further subclassification, Odobenus rosmarus laptevi, is accepted by some zoologists for the walruses that live around the Laptev Sea, north of Siberia.

Answer: True

Both sexes have tusks, but those of males tend to be longer, straighter, and thicker. Tusks are elongated upper canine teeth, and continue to grow throughout the walrus's life. They can reach lengths of several feet.

Answer: Digging for food on the ocean floor

Although perhaps males during breeding season would disagree, the main fuction of walrus tusks is to help the animal "haul out" of the water and onto ice. It was once thought that walruses used their tusks to disturb and dig on the ocean floor for their preferred foods, clams and other mollusks.

However, due to some very intrepid underwater photographers, we now know that walruses squirt water from their mouths at the ocean floor to find food!

Answer: Walruses are herd animals and herds can number in the thousands

Walruses seem to need the touch of other walruses, and herds are often seen lying so close together that calves are in danger of being crushed! Herds are divided by gender except during mating season. Calves stay with their mothers for at least two years and sometimes longer.

Answer: Muktuk

A polynya is an open area of water surrounded by sea ice. Polynyas are highly favored by walruses. Vibrissae are extremely sensitive facial whiskers that walruses use to find food underwater. During walrus mating season (January/February), dominant males are masters of harems of females. The average male/female ratio is estimated to be one male walrus to 23 females...and you thought HUMAN dating was difficult!

Muktuk is the Inuit word for whale skin and blubber. The Inuit word for walrus is Aiviq or Aivik.

Answer: False

Fully grown male Pacific walruses (the larger of the two subspecies) can weigh over 3500 pounds and be up to twelve feet long, but northern elephant seals can weigh 4500 pounds and reach thirteen feet in length. For sheer bulk, however, no pinniped tops the male southern elephant seal, with his maximum weight of 8000 pounds and length of twenty feet.

Answer: All of these

Walruses also have special pharyngeal muscles that close and keep water out of the respiratory tract when submerged. A high level of myoglobin, an oxygen-binding protein, stores oxygen in muscles. The so-called "mammalian diving reflex" is highly developed in marine mammals like walruses.

It slows the heartbeat while underwater, lessens oxygen needs and enables long dives of over ten minutes for walruses.

Answer: Eating seals

A "normal" walrus diet consists of clams, other shellfish, snails, crabs, shrimp, and worms. Some walruses, however, have been known to hunt and eat seals. These rogues can be identified by their larger size and grease-stained skins.

Answer: Being eaten by a killer whale or polar bear

Walruses have a slow reproductive cycle, with females bearing one calf only every two or three years, if that. Consequently, calves are precious and are carefully nurtured. Young walruses are dependent on their mothers for around two years after birth and nurse for much of that time. Walrus milk is rich, with a fat content of about 30%. Walrus mothers are extremely protective of their young and defend them fiercely. Walruses have few natural predators, but killer whales and polar bears have been known to attack walrus calves.

Answer: Both the Atlantic and Pacific walruses are endangered species

Researching on the Internet can be a tricky business. This site
http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Sciences/Zoology/ClassMammalia/Mammals/OrderPinnipedia/Walrus/Walrus.htm
states "Today, the walrus is an endangered species, with 250 000 Pacific walruses and even fewer Atlantic walruses left today. They could become extinct at any moment, due to their slow breeding habits and the continued hunting of them by the Eskimos."
I am not sure how a species with a quarter of a million members becomes "extinct at any moment".
The Atlantic walrus population is certainly smaller than in previous centuries, but exact numbers are not known. Walruses are protected by law in every country in which they are found (Russia, Norway, Greenland, Canada and the USA). It is to be hoped that the protection of these magnificent animals and their habitat will ensure that they continue to grace the earth's Arctic areas.

Thank you for taking this quiz, and I hope you have enjoyed it. Information for this quiz was obtained from the following websites, which I highly recommend for your further walrus reading needs.
www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/toothwalkers/index.html
www.seaworld.org
www.canadiangeographic.ca
http://seamap.env.duke.edu/species/tsn/180639
www.tmmc.org (The Marine Mammal Center)
www.nwf.org/internationalwildlife/2000/walrusnd.html (National Wildlife Federation)