ZooBlog

Long Tusks
Pacific walruses can be easily recognized by their long tusks. They are social animals and they live in small groups at sea where they hunt, swim, dive and feed together. Their tusks, by the way, are not used for hunting but hanging on the breathing hole in the ice. Male walruses also use them for fighting and dominance. Like other pinniped species, walruses vocalize to announce their territory, and they are also known as the "loudest voice of the Arctic." Vocalization also helps to identify each other in case of a lost calf, will locate its mother.

Feedings
Adult Pacific walruses can eat up to 85 pounds of food a day. They root out meals from the ocean bottom by using their muscular whisker pads. They also squirt water from their mouths to blast shellfish out of the mud. Walruses can dive down 200 feet to find food in rich ocean shellfish beds.

Conservation
Walruses are known to be hunted in indigenous Arctic culture for their tusks, meat, and fat.

From the Wildlife Conservation Society:
"Once common, due to hunting, walruses now appear only in small areas of Greenland, the Bering Sea, and the Arctic Ocean. The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act has helped stabilize walrus populations in the wild."

Animal Info
Pacific walruses can be seen at the New York Aquarium.