unique animals - walrus Atlantic - inhabits the Barents Sea ecoregion.Huge drifting mammals giant ice floes along the northern coast of the harsh Atlantic.They luxuriate, imposingly lounging on stony braids framing the ocean waters.
Atlantic giants in the Red Book
Livestock these pinnipeds rapidly shrinking.Therefore, in Russia is taken under the protection of the Atlantic walrus.Red Book where these animals were trying to prevent the extinction of a unique subspecies.Large walrus rookeries declared reserves.
Marine Animal Populations includes isolated, little contact with each other herds.Their number has shrunk dramatically due to uncontrolled commercial whaling.Of the 25 000 animals left about 4,000 animals.
Description Atlantic walrus
information about these giants of the Arctic are scarce.Walruses - large animals with skin brown-brown color.Weight 3-4 meter males is about two tons, and females that grew to a length of 2.6 meters, it is close to a ton.The huge mammals have a small head with a broad snout and tiny eyes.
upper jaw decorated with two large fang up to 35-50 centimeters.Tusks easily pierce the ice.They help the floppy to the animal to climb the ice floes of sea water.Tusks - a weapon against rivals and protection from enemies.Walruses often pierced fangs of polar bears.
Mighty Atlantic walrus, the photo is not easy to do, has another brilliant device - straw-colored mustache.They form hundred stiff hairs.The hairs are thick, like a quill feathers, sensitive, like fingers.Thanks to them, walruses distinguish even the smallest objects and easily seek out shellfish spudded in the ocean ground.
outwardly looks very unattractive Atlantic walrus.Description it is: fat, stale on the rocky beach body, wrinkled folds of fat and deep scars, emits a pungent stench;tiny eyes, bloodshot, fester.Body of adult walruses strewn with sparse coarse hair, and envelops the young dense scalp dark brown.
On land Atlantic walrus clumsy, he had difficulty walking, turning over all four flippers.But in the ocean, he feels great, easily slipping into the water column.Apparently, for this reason it is on a rocky beach in mainly lies in marine waters are actively moving.
Shellfish - the staple food of the mighty beast.Although it happens that he is attacking seal pups.The giant animal feels full after eating 35-50 kg of food.
marriage and reproduction period
Lifetime Atlantic walrus - 45 years.He slowly matures.Sexual maturity he comes to 6-10 years.Walruses are not only able to doze off, burp, snap, join the fights, but also bark.
Strong animals very musical.Their musicianship is manifested most clearly in the mating season.In January-April pinnipeds expressive singing.Mating takes place from the Giants in May and June.A female bears fruit for 12 months.
Cubs her there once every couple of years.After the mother has to nourish a puppy up to two years.A morzhata males stay with the mother up to 5 years.The female never leaves the herd (by and large its form and females with cubs).
Habitats
Walruses live in the discharged ice fields, to plant Artemisia in the open ocean.For the life they choose in the waters of a depth of 20-30 meters.Rookery prefer to arrange on the ice and rocky coasts.Their annual migration is caused by the movement of ice.They climbed on the drifting ice floe, floating as if on a ship to places of habitual residence, where selected in the land, haul out.
area of ​​distribution
These pinnipeds are found along the shores of the Barents and Kara Seas.They are chosen by the bay and the lagoon mouth, rugged coast of multiple islands in the region.Ice and coastal rookeries subspecies scattered on the Franz Josef Land.
northeastern tip of Novaya Zemlya - a place that obzhil Atlantic walrus and always go back.In the eastern regions of the Kara Sea, it is not often meet.He arranges his abode in the White Sea, the peninsula Kanin, Kolguev and Vaigach.
like him and the east coast of the Canadian Arctic.In this region, for it became the home of the Hudson Bay and Strait, and Fox Cove Frobisher, Baffin Island, Devon Island.Less often, it forms a maturation on the Arctic islands, to the west of the Straits of Barrow.They settled Baffin Bay, Greenland west coast, the waters of the Davis Strait.
European Atlantic has provided the pinnipeds drifting ice of Northern Iceland, lips and lagoons vdavshiesya in Svalbard.Norway from the northern coastline of sheltered individuals.
Limiting reason
powerful animal population has declined sharply due to increased fishing.Especially hard hit Atlantic walrus, living in the Kara Sea.Pinnipeds brutally massacred in the XIX century.In some regions, they completely destroyed.The strongest population extirpation been in the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Svalbard.
Nowadays, the number of the beast is limited by the rapid economic management rights.Particularly offensive oil and gas companies engaged in the development of new deposits.They sorely pollute natural habitats Atlantic giants expel them from their homes territories.Subspecies with low potential is difficult to have a confrontation inadequate fishing and other anthropogenic stresses aspects.
Walruses affect 10 species of helminths.Diseases and causes of death of pinnipeds scientists are not clear.Natural enemies of the population considered to be killer whales and polar bears.
