July 25- August 17 II Walruses!

Mention the Arctic and people immediately think polar bears and indeed some people on board were there primarily to see these big white furry beasts. Me? I was looking for walruses - 'Tooth Walkers'.  They are so big and ungainly, they intrigue me. And I got my wish! 

Walruses are the largest seals in the waters around here. The males can grow to 3m in length and weigh up to 2 ton and their tusks grow up to 1m. They love to cuddle! and lie close to and sometimes on top of each other in a huge grunting snorting heaving smelly mass - great way to keep warm. They’re quite delightful - in a quirky sort of way. They eat mainly mussels which they find with their sensitive face bristles and then suck up into their mouth like huge vacuum cleaners. They also eat snails, crabs and sometimes Ringed seals which are the smallest seals in the Arctic. 

Having been hunted almost to extinction, the walrus population is recovering and now numbers about 2000. They were sought after for their tusks (almost pure white) and of course for their blubber but also for their skin which is so tough that during the industrial period it was used as drive belts for machinery. 

I look fwd to seeing their much bigger cousins, the Elephant seals, in Antarctica next year

We saw a few large groups of males at a couple of haul outs which was very exciting. They are quite magnificent! You are not allowed to go too close or cause the animals any stress so most groups we saw at 30-50 m.

What a life!

Handsome fellow.

This poor guy had lost a tusk.

Happy happy fellow! What a life.

And we also saw a couple of small groups of 3-6 on ice rafts just drifting by the ship - these are possibly females.

All wildlife of Svalbard is protected so you are not allowed to get too close. In fact the Governor of Svalbard, Sysselmannen, has a small army of rangers who patrol far and wide to make sure you don’t do the wrong thing. A group of rangers came on shore while we were walrus-watching.

This is the Governor’s patrol ship.

[By this time I had resolved to buy a camera with a good zoom before we go to Antarctica. I love my iPhone but it just can’t manage the distance shots; for a few shots I resorted to an old camera I’d tucked in the case at the last minute.]