The walrus is a large, tusked pinniped of Arctic and subarctic seas, instantly recognizable and ecologically tied to two increasingly precarious resources: sea ice and shallow, productive seabeds. As a benthic forager that hauls out in dense aggregations, the walrus is highly exposed to the rapid environmental change reshaping the Arctic [Lowry 2016; NOAA 2024d]. This profile examines walrus biology, the pressures the species faces, and the management and co-management programs working to safeguard it.
Biology and Identification
The walrus is among the largest pinnipeds; adult Pacific males can weigh well over 1,200 kg, exceeded in size among seals only by the elephant seals [Lowry 2016]. Both sexes bear elongated upper canine tusks that can reach about a metre in length and are used for hauling out onto ice, maintaining breathing holes, and in social display and dominance contests; males' tusks are typically longer and heavier [Lowry 2016]. The skin is thick and wrinkled, overlying a deep blubber layer that provides insulation in frigid water.
Walruses are specialized benthic foragers. They feed predominantly on bivalve molluscs such as clams and mussels, located on the seabed in part using their sensitive vibrissae (whiskers) and extracted by suction, with bivalves reported to make up the great majority of the diet [Lowry 2016]. This dependence ties the species to shallow continental-shelf waters with rich invertebrate communities. Walruses are social and gregarious, gathering in large numbers on sea ice or coastal haul-outs to rest between foraging bouts.
Three forms are recognized within the species: the Atlantic walrus (O. r. rosmarus) and the Pacific walrus (O. r. divergens) are the two widely accepted subspecies, while a third proposed form from the Laptev Sea is now generally regarded as the westernmost population of the Pacific subspecies [Lowry 2016].
Habitat and Range
The walrus inhabits the shallow continental-shelf waters of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent subarctic seas, with the Atlantic subspecies in the North Atlantic and adjacent Arctic and the Pacific subspecies in the Bering and Chukchi seas [Lowry 2016]. The species requires shallow water over productive bivalve beds, reliable access to open water for feeding, and suitable sea ice or land on which to haul out for rest, molting, and rearing young [NOAA 2024d].
In accordance with NRWL sensitive-species policy, specific site locations, haul-out sites, and seasonal movement details are not disclosed in this article.
Conservation Status
The walrus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (assessment e.T15106A45228501, 2016), reflecting projected impacts of sea-ice loss on a species dependent on ice for hauling out and on shallow shelf habitat for feeding [Lowry 2016]. The species is included on CITES Appendix III at the request of Canada, which requires export permits for walrus products leaving listing states and the cooperation of other countries to monitor trade [CITES 2023].
National measures supplement the international framework. In the United States, walruses are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, with subsistence harvest by Alaska Natives exempted, and a 2017 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determination concluded that listing the Pacific walrus under the U.S. Endangered Species Act was not warranted at that time [USFWS 2017]. The most recent integrated survey of the Pacific subspecies estimated abundance on the order of a quarter of a million animals, though such estimates carry wide uncertainty [MMC 2024; USFWS 2023]. The Atlantic and Pacific subspecies have also been assessed separately by the IUCN Pinniped Specialist Group, reflecting their differing populations and pressures [Kovacs 2016].
Threats
Loss of sea ice is the central long-term threat. Declining summer sea ice removes the offshore resting platforms that allow efficient foraging over shelf feeding grounds, forcing larger coastal haul-outs and increasing energetic costs and risks [Lowry 2016; NOAA 2024d].
Disturbance at haul-outs. Dense terrestrial aggregations are vulnerable to disturbance from human activity, aircraft, vessels, and predators, which can trigger stampedes that cause trampling deaths, particularly of calves [NOAA 2024d].
Industrial activity and shipping. Reduced ice cover opens previously inaccessible Arctic waters to shipping, resource extraction, and associated noise and pollution, raising the potential for disturbance and habitat degradation in walrus feeding and haul-out areas [MMC 2024].
Changes in benthic productivity. Shifts in sea-ice timing and ocean conditions may alter the bivalve communities walruses depend on, with consequences for the species' food base that remain an active area of monitoring [Lowry 2016].
What Is Being Done
Indigenous co-management. Subsistence use of walruses by Arctic Indigenous peoples is managed through co-management partnerships — in Alaska, for example, between federal agencies and Native organizations — that combine harvest monitoring with traditional knowledge [MMC 2024].
Legal protection and trade controls. The Marine Mammal Protection Act protects walruses in U.S. waters, and the CITES Appendix III listing provides international trade oversight for products originating in listing states [CITES 2023; USFWS 2017].
Population assessment. Agencies and the IUCN Pinniped Specialist Group assess the Atlantic and Pacific subspecies and conduct surveys, including integrated genetic and aerial estimates of Pacific walrus abundance, to track status and inform management [Lowry 2016; MMC 2024].
Habitat and disturbance management. Measures to reduce disturbance at coastal haul-outs and to manage increasing Arctic shipping and industrial activity aim to limit added pressure on a sea-ice-dependent species [NOAA 2024d].
How Readers Can Help
Citizen science. Report verified wildlife observations to recognized Arctic monitoring programs. Such records contribute to the distribution datasets used in assessments.
Support climate action. The walrus's central long-term threat is sea-ice loss; supporting effective climate policy addresses the root driver of habitat change in the Arctic [Lowry 2016; NOAA 2024d].
Respect wildlife distances. When in Arctic regions, support and observe guidelines that keep vessels, aircraft, and people well clear of haul-outs to prevent disturbance-driven stampedes [NOAA 2024d].
Education outreach. Share accurate, science-based information about how Arctic environmental change affects ice-dependent species and the Indigenous communities that co-manage them [MMC 2024].
References
[CITES 2023] CITES. (2023). Appendices I, II and III. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Odobenus rosmarus listed on Appendix III (Canada). https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php
[Kovacs 2016] Kovacs, K.M. (2016). Odobenus rosmarus ssp. rosmarus (Atlantic Walrus). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T15108A66992323. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T15108A66992323.en
[Lowry 2016] Lowry, L. (2016). Odobenus rosmarus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T15106A45228501. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T15106A45228501.en
[MMC 2024] Marine Mammal Commission. (2024). Pacific Walrus — species of concern overview. https://www.mmc.gov/priority-topics/species-of-concern/pacific-walrus/
[NOAA 2024d] NOAA Arctic Program. (2024). Walruses in a time of climate change — Arctic Report Card. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2015/walruses-in-a-time-of-climate-change/
[USFWS 2017] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (2017). Endangered Species Act 12-month finding for the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) — listing not warranted, October 2017. https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/8791
[USFWS 2023] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (2023). Pacific Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) Stock Assessment Report (revised July 2023). https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Pacific-Walrus-Stock-Assessment-Report-2023.pdf