Why do walruses look so weird?

Summary

But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids

Episode: Why Do Walruses Look So Weird?
Release Date: May 9, 2025

In this engaging bonus episode of But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids, host Jane Lindholm dives deep into the intriguing world of walruses alongside marine biologist Adam Ratner from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California. Tailored for young inquisitive minds, the episode addresses various questions posed by children, unraveling the mysteries behind the unique appearance and behaviors of walruses.

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Introduction to Walruses

Jane Lindholm sets the stage by referencing the previous episode, which focused on seals and sea lions, and introduces walruses as the third type of pinniped worthy of exploration.

Jane Lindholm [00:33]:
"Our last episode was all about four flippered, carnivorous, ocean-dwelling mammals... but we did not talk about the third. Do you remember what it is? Walruses."

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Meeting the Expert: Adam Ratner

Adam Ratner, a marine biologist at the Marine Mammal Center, provides expertise on walruses. He explains why walruses weren’t covered in the previous episode and shares his enthusiasm for these remarkable creatures.

Adam Ratner [02:35]:
"I would love to take care of a walrus. Let me just start by saying that... walruses only live up in the Arctic in the cold water."

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Physical Characteristics of Walruses

Adam delves into the distinctive physical traits that set walruses apart from other marine mammals. He highlights their impressive size, long flippers, substantial blubber, prominent tusks, and charming mustaches.

Adam Ratner [03:23]:
"So big. So these animals are like £4,000. So that's like most of an NFL football team, like, put together to make this walrus... and of course, the things that make walruses really special are those tusks."

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Walrus Teeth and Diet

Responding to Jacob, a five-year-old from Gorham, Maine, Adam explains the functional design of walrus teeth. He describes how their tusks aid in foraging for clams and navigating ice floes.

Jacob [04:09]:
"Why do walruses have long teeth?"

Adam Ratner [04:56]:
"They have almost all molars because they eat clams... they've got a full mouth of molars to help them eat their food."

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Migration Patterns of Walruses

Andy, a five-year-old from Boston, Massachusetts, wonders about walrus migration. Adam clarifies that walruses do migrate, but their movements are confined within the Arctic Circle as they seek different food sources.

Andy [05:35]:
"Why don't they just stay in the north?"

Adam Ratner [05:35]:
"They might move from different beaches and ice flows to go find different food."

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Habitat Distribution: North vs. South Pole

Katara, a six-year-old from St. Petersburg, Florida, questions why walruses reside only in the Northern Hemisphere. Adam attributes this to historical habitat establishment and evolutionary preferences.

Katara [06:30]:
"Why do walruses only live in the North Pole? Why don't they live in the South Pole?"

Adam Ratner [06:44]:
"They came to the Arctic a long, long time ago and realized that that is their favorite place to be."

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Unique Behaviors and Social Structures

Adam shares captivating insights into walrus behavior, emphasizing their long parental bonds and diverse vocalizations. He notes that walrus calves stay with their mothers for one to two years, fostering strong family ties.

Adam Ratner [07:28]:
"Walruses... can make lots of different sounds, both in water and out of water... they make a whole bunch of different, very cool sounds."

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Vocalizations of Walruses

During a light-hearted moment, the podcast plays actual walrus sounds to illustrate Adam's description of their varied vocalizations, highlighting their complexity compared to other pinnipeds.

Adam Ratner [08:17]:
"They can make... a sound that sounds like a gutter, like rain, like flushing of a toilet almost."

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Adam Ratner's Journey and Passion

Towards the end of the episode, Adam reflects on his career path and dedication to marine conservation. He explains his transition from research to active rehabilitation work, driven by a desire to protect and understand marine mammals.

Adam Ratner [09:26]:
"I realized that I couldn't just stay on a boat or be in a windowless lab. I wanted to help give them a second chance."

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Conclusion and Further Engagement

The episode concludes with Jane thanking Adam and encouraging listeners to learn more about the Marine Mammal Center. She also invites curious kids to submit their own questions for future episodes.

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Key Takeaways

• Habitat: Walruses are exclusive to the Arctic Circle, thriving in cold waters and ice floes.
• Physical Traits: Distinctive tusks and mustaches, long flippers, and thick blubber are hallmark features.
• Diet and Teeth: Primarily consume clams, equipped with molars adapted for crushing shells.
• Migration: Movements occur within the Arctic, driven by food availability.
• Social Behavior: Strong maternal bonds and a wide range of vocalizations characterize their social interactions.
• Conservation Efforts: Dedicated individuals like Adam Ratner play a crucial role in protecting these marine giants.

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This episode of But Why not only answers children's burning questions about walruses but also fosters a deeper appreciation for marine biology and conservation. Through engaging discussions and expert insights, young listeners are encouraged to stay curious and explore the wonders of the natural world.

Transcript

[Jane Lindholm]

Why is the sky blue? Why do birds sing? Why do we need your support? Because but why is powered in part by listeners like you. If but why sparks curiosity and learning in your home, help us keep the show going Strong. Head to butkids.org donate to become a But why fan club member or make a gift in any amount to support the show. Thanks and stay curious.

[Announcer]

Before we get started, here's a message for the adults who are listening. Support for but why is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. This is but why? A podcast for curious kids from Vermont Public. I'm Jane Lindholm. On this show we take questions from curious kids just like you and we find answers. Our last episode was all about four flippered, carnivorous, ocean dwelling mammals who come up on land to rest and have their babies. We specifically talked about two of the three types of seals and sea lions, but we did not talk about the third. Do you remember what it is? Walruses. We promised we would do a bonus episode all about walruses. So we're back today with our pinniped expert, Adam Ratner, a marine biologist at the Marine Mammal center in Sausalito, California. That's a research and rehabilitation center that takes in sick or abandoned or wounded seals and sea lions and helps them return to the wild. They do a lot of studying of these pinnipeds too. Actually, Adam is speaking with us in front of a group of baby seals living at the center temporarily, so you might hear them in the background as this episode goes on. One of the reasons we didn't talk about walruses in the previous episode was because Adam and the other people who work at the center don't take care of any.

[Adam Ratner]

I would love to take care of a walrus. Let me just start by saying that. But there are no walruses in California. So walruses only live up in the Arctic in the cold water. So you'll see them around Alaska and Norway and kind of the Arctic Circle. They're built for life up in the Arctic as opposed to some of these other animals like the sea lions or the elephant seals, which aren't so the same way that you see different animals just in different parts of the world. Polar bears, penguins, they're built for that environment. And with walruses, they just love that cold up in the Arctic. And it's where they figured out how to make their home.

[Jacob]

Hi, my name is Jacob. Why do walruses look so weird?

[Announcer]

Can you describe a walrus for someone who's never seen one?

[Adam Ratner]

Oof. So big. So these animals are like £4,000. So that's like most of an NFL football team, like, put together to make this walrus. They actually have long flippers, kind of like the sea lions. So they've got these big front flippers. They can tuck their back flippers underneath them. They can walk around up on land if they need to. Tons of blubber, all that really good fat. And then, of course, the things that make walruses really special are those tusks. So they've got these two big tusks, kind of like elephants, that stick down from the front of their face. They also have an adorable mustache, I would add.

[Jacob]

I'm a Thai and I'm five years old and I live in Gorham, Maine. Why do walruses have long teeth?

[Adam Ratner]

So walruses live up on the ice floes. So they jump into the water, they swim around, and they look for things like clams and other food. And they can actually use those tusks to help kind of dig through the sand to find some of that clam food that might be hiding. But then you also think about what it takes to get back onto that ice forest, flow, that iceberg. If you will think about if you're in a swimming pool, you get to the side of the swimming pool and you want to climb out. We tend to use our arms. We kind of push off, and we climb up. The walruses don't have those types of arms to help them. So what they can do instead is use those tusks, put that onto the ice, and use that to help kind of prop them up onto the ice and climb.

[Announcer]

Do walruses have teeth other than those two visible tusks?

[Adam Ratner]

They do. It's very different than the teeth that other seals and sea lions have. So when we think about the teeth in our mouths, we have sharp teeth. Those are the canines. And we've got the flat teeth, the molars in the back. The molars are for chewing, and walruses have almost all molars because they eat clams. You don't really need super sharp teeth for the clams. You gotta chew the clams. So they've got a full mouth of molars to help them eat their food.

[Jacob]

Hi, I'm Andy, I'm five from Boston, Massachusetts, and I want to know why walruses migrate. Why don't they just stay in the north?

[Adam Ratner]

So walruses do migrate, but they all stay in the north, so it's a little bit confusing. I always view migration as traveling between your home and your favorite restaurant. And some animals, your favorite restaurant is going to be really far away from your home. So like California sea lions, the boys home is Southern California. Favorite restaurant could be Vancouver up in Canada. For other animals, the restaurant might be closer. And that's the case with walruses. So they're always going to stay in the Arctic Circle, but they might move from different beaches and ice flows to go find different food.

[Announcer]

So given that they're not leaving the north, they're not leaving the Arctic Circle, but they are migrating. Katara is thinking about another place that has a lot of very cold water and very cold temperatures, but no walruses.

[Jacob]

My name is Katara, I'm six years old and I live in St. Petersburg, Florida. Why do walruses only live in the North Pole? Why don't they live in the South Pole?

[Adam Ratner]

You know, sometimes it just depends where you show up first and where you make your home. So we see some animals, even though the conditions are pretty similar between the Arctic and Antarctic. You think about polar bears, they only live up in the Northern Hemisphere, not in the Southern Hemisphere. Penguins only down in Antarctica, not in the North Pole. And the walruses fall into that group. The, they kind of came to the Arctic a long, long, long, long, long, long time ago and realized that that is their favorite place to be. And honestly, I think it would be a bit daunting to try and get to the South Pole from there. So they figured they might just stay up there for a little bit longer.

[Announcer]

What else is cool about walruses that we should know? Because most of us will never have an opportunity to see one in the wild.

[Adam Ratner]

Hmm. Walruses are just very cool. The mustache is adorable. Highly recommend. The babies are really big, so when they're born, they're close to £100. And they're gonna spend a really long time with mom. They can spend between one and two years with their mom, which is much longer than a lot of the seals and sea lions. And they love contact. So as babies, walruses loved being hugged by their mom. It's very, very cute. And then the other thing, from my perspective that makes them really cool is because I'm really interested in animal behavior, is walruses can make lots of really different sounds. They can make lots of different vocalizations both in water and out of water. So compared to the elephant seals with just that cackle, walruses make a whole bunch of different, very cool sounds.

[Announcer]

Can you mimic one?

[Adam Ratner]

I was so afraid you were going to ask that question. They can make a bunch. They can make. I've actually seen walrus's whistle. I've seen walruses make a sound that sounds like a gutter, like a rain, like flushing of a toilet almost. Yeah, they're all over the map.

[Announcer]

So the answer is no, you won't make the sound.

[Adam Ratner]

It would be really bad. It would be really bad. It wouldn't do them justice.

[Announcer]

Since Adam is not a walrus impersonator, we found some recordings of walrus sounds to play for you instead. Wow, they do sound pretty unique. Walruses may not look like any other animals in the animal kingdom, but they're still relatives of the seals and sea lions we talked about in our last episode. I wanted to know how Adam got into working with pinnipeds like these and learning so much about these very cool animals. What did he want to be when he was a kid, for example?

[Adam Ratner]

I wanted to be this. So I always joke that a lot of people when they're kids, they want to grow up to work with dolphins or whales or seals, and I just didn't outgrow that. My focus was on research, though. I was a scientist. I wanted to better understand where these animals go. So what's their migration? How do they talk to each other? How do they learn? So I spent time out on boats and I spent times in labs looking at birds and fish and marine mammals. And before I came to the Marine Mammal Center, I kind of had this moment where I saw a lot of these seals and sea lions getting sick. I saw them being impacted by trash. I saw them being impacted by things like climate change. And I realized that I couldn't just stay on a boat or be in a windowless lab. I wanted to help give them a second chance. And that's what the Marine Mammal center does when we're able to help the animals that are sick. But we're also learning so much about them. And I've got all of these wonderful people, listeners on the podcast today, people that visit the Marine Mammal center or go to our website that also want to help. So we've got this whole army of heroes for the environment that's going to create a healthy ocean for marine mammals and people alike.

[Announcer]

Thank you to Adam Ratner, director of conservation engagement at the Marine Mammal center and thanks to the center for letting us visit. You can check out their website marinemammalcenter.org to learn more about their work and the animals they care for. The walrus sounds you heard earlier are courtesy of the Watkins Marine Mammal Sound Database, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the New Bedford Whaling Museum. As always, if you have a question about anything, have an adult record you asking it on a smartphone using an app like Voice Memos. Then have your adult email your file to Questions [e-mail] But why is produced by Melody Beaudet, Sarah Bake and me, Jane Lindholm at Vermont Public and distributed by prx. Our video producer is Joey Palumbo and our theme music is by Luke Reynolds. If you like our show, please have your adults help you give us a thumbs up or a review on whatever podcast platform you use to listen to us. We'll be back next week with an all new episode. Until then, stay curious.

[Jacob]

From PRX.