Page 149 - (DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia: And Other Creatures of the Deep
P. 149

TUSKY DOZER




                                                                          WALRUS
                       “Walruses



                         can take                                      The walrus has one of the strangest sleep patterns of


                five–minute                                             any animal. In the frozen Arctic, on the top of the world,
                                                                       walruses live in icy water and can spend more than a
                                                                       week at a time on fishing expeditions. It means they
                    naps when                                          have to doze whenever they get a chance, hanging
                                                                       off ice floes with their tusks or even when they are
                   under water”                                        completely submerged. When they are especially busy,

                                                                       walruses can go for more than three days without any
                                                                       sleep at all. They make up for it when they return to
                                                                       land, when hundreds will snooze packed together
                                                                       on a favorite beach.





                                                                           AT A GLANCE

                                                                        •  SIZE   9¾–12 ft (3–3.6 m) long
                                                                        •  HABITAT  Cold Arctic coastlines and on
                                                                           ice floes, diving in shallow marine waters
                                                                        •  LOCATION  Region around the North
                                                                           Pole, southward as far as North Pacific
                                                                           islands and Greenland in the Atlantic
                                                                        •  DIET  Mostly clams, but also worms,
                                                                           snails, shrimp, crabs, sea cucumbers,
                                                                           and slow-moving fish









                                                                           8 4             STATS AND FACTS
                                                                                           TUSK LENGTH
                                                                            HOURS                   in          20           40
                                                                        MAX. TIME WITHOUT SLEEP
                                                                                                    cm     30     60      90    120
                                                                                                        19½ in/50 cm   39 in/100 cm
                                                                                                          (average)  (maximum)
                                                                                           BODY WEIGHT           2,300–3,440 lb
                                                                                                                 (1,040–1,560 kg)
                                                                                                    lb      2,000    3,000    4,000
                                                                         MAX. TIME ASLEEP
                                                                           19                       kg      1,000     1,500   2,000


                                                                            HOURS

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