Walrus Skull

Walrus skull and lower jaw from Winter Island (Nunavut, Canada). Collected in 1822 by Captain W.E. Parry.

This Walrus skull is one of three that were collected during Captain W.E. Parry's expedition to the Canadian Arctic in 1822. It was obtained with some difficulty, because the native Inuit tradition was to keep all the heads of their prey through the winter and throw them into the sea after the ice melted, thus ensuring that they would have good hunting. Parry's men had to bargain hard to get the skulls.

Walruses are in the same suborder as the Seals and Sea lions and are found in the Arctic waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Their English name probably derives from Old Norse Hrossvalr meaning horse-whale. Through Danish the horse and the whale parts of the word were swapped around to form Walros or Walross and finally Walrus in English.

When not resting on beaches or ice floes, walruses spend days at a time at sea searching the seabed for clams, mussels and cockles to eat. They use their long tusks by dragging them through the sediment at the bottom of the sea, until they touch a shellfish. When they have found a one, they suck the meat straight out of the shell. If there is no ice around, the male walrus may sleep in the water. To help it do this, it has two air sacs that it can inflate, so they act as buoyancy aids while it sleeps. It also uses the air sacs when calling underwater. Walruses can hold their breath for up to half-an-hour at a time and reach depths of 90 metres (300ft) or so. As well as their use in food detection, walruses use their tusks (long canine teeth) for fighting, defence and display. They can also be used to form and maintain breathing holes in the sea-ice.

Walrus are usually only found in Arctic seas, though occasionally they are found in British waters. The last one to be seen in Norfolk was a young individual that swam up the River Ouse in 1981.