What does a walrus need to survive?
Food Preferences & Resources. Walruses prefer molluscs – mainly bivalves such as clams. They also eat many other kinds of benthic invertebrates including worms, gastropods, cephalopods, crustaceans, sea cucumbers, and other soft-bodied animals.
How does climate change affect walruses?
Today the biggest threat facing walruses is the loss of stable sea ice due to climate change. As a result of less sea ice, walrus are changing their behavior. Walruses feed on the ocean floor in the relatively shallow waters of the continental shelf, where the sea ice itself sustains a rich food web.
Why are walruses important to the ecosystem?
Walruses can have a large effect on their prey and play an important role in the Arctic ecosystem by influencing the structure of benthic invertebrate communities. They can eat more than 50 clams during a single 7-minute dive to the seafloor and consume 35–50 kilograms (77–110 pounds) of food per day.
How are walruses adapted to live in cold water?
From about -20° to 15°C (-4° – 59°F) a walrus’s metabolism doesn’t change, and the temperature doesn’t appear to affect the walrus’s behavior. Walruses can withstand even cooler temperatures; they have been observed at -35°C (-31°F). In cold water, blood is shunted inward as blood vessels in the skin constrict,…
How does a walrus migrate throughout the year?
Migration The walruses’ migration follows the extent of the pack ice. Throughout the year, they occur primarily in or near the southern periphery of the pack ice. Walruses migrate primarily by swimming, but they may also ride ice floes. Some walruses migrate more than 3,000 km (1,863 miles) each year.
Where do Walruses live in the Atlantic Ocean?
Atlantic walruses inhabit coastal areas of northeastern Canada and Greenland. Most walruses live where the air temperature is about -15° to +5°C (5° – 41°F). Walruses are generally found where the water is no more than 80 m (262 ft.) deep. They prefer a habitat with a gravelly bottom.
How does the skin of a walrus change?
How Walruses Work. When the temperature is cold or a walrus has been underwater for a long time, its skin appears white for just this reason. When a walrus is warm, its skin takes on a pinkish hue as the blood vessels dilate and blood returns to the skin’s surface to let heat escape. Walruses do have hair, which they gradually shed…