walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) large flippered marine mammal discontinuous circumpolar distribution Arctic Ocean sub-Arctic seas Nor
walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) large flippered marine mammal discontinuous circumpolar distribution Arctic Ocean sub-Arctic seas Northern Hemisphere. species Odobenidae Odobenus genus. Atlantic O. rosmarus rosmarus Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Walrus O. rosmarus divergens Pacific Ocean, O. rosmarus laptevi, Laptev Sea prominent tusks, whiskers and great bulk. Adult Pacific males can weigh up to 1,700 kilograms (3,700 lb)[3] and, among pinnipeds, are exceeded in size only by the two species of elephant seals.[4] It resides primarily in shallow oceanic shelf habitat, spending a significant proportion of its life on sea ice in pursuit of its preferred diet of benthic bivalve mollusks. It is a relatively long-lived, social animal and is considered a keystone species in Arctic marine ecosystems. The walrus has played a prominent role in the cultures of many indigenous Arctic peoples, who have hunted the walrus for its meat, fat, skin, tusks and bone. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the walrus was the object of heavy commercial exploitation for blubber and ivory and its numbers declined rapidly. Its global population has since rebounded, though the Atlantic and Laptev populations remain fragmented and at historically depressed levels.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Photo credit: © 2d Alan King / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -arctic, ., animal, arctic, atlantic, benthic, bivalve, black, circumpolar, considered, diet, discontinuous, distribution, divergens, ecosystems., elephant, exceeded, flippered, genus., habitat, hemisphere., ice, illustration, keystone, large, life, long-lived, mammal, marine, mollusks., northern, ocean, oceanic, odobenidae, odobenus, pacific, pinnipeds, played, preferred, primarily, proportion, pursuit, resides, rosmarus, sea, seals., seas, shallow, shelf, significant, size, social, species, spending, walrus, white, woodcut
