The tusks of elephants are the largest of our tusks. So, are there "elephants" in the ocean, which is larger than the land area? The answer is yes! Their name is walrus. Walrus belongs to the walrus family of pteropods, which is the only species without brothers and sisters. Walruses are not as big as elephants, but they are the largest among finnopods.
Walruses mainly live in the cold Arctic waters. Their bodies are heavy and long, and their skin is thick and wrinkled; Their limbs have degenerated into fins due to adaptation to water life; Their noses are short; Their ears have no earshells and look very ugly. Although walruses are ugly, they have unique skills, mainly relying on their long teeth.
First, tusks are a weapon for walrus self-defense. Walruses live in high latitudes, and their main natural enemies are Orcas and polar bears. Once there is war, walruses will show their tusks. Of course, under normal circumstances, walruses will not sacrifice their lives to fight these powerful characters. At this time, long teeth become climbers, that is, the ice pick in walruses' hands, which can help them escape on the ice.
Secondly, walrus tusks are a symbol of power. Walrus is a social animal. In the walrus family, the length and thickness of teeth determine the status of individuals. It is also a weapon for the same kind to compete for territory and "wives and concubines". However, the fight between walruses is not cruel. Once one party obviously has the upper hand, the fight will stop immediately.
However, from a practical point of view, the most important use of walrus tusks is to act as "underwater cultivators", which is like a plow of cultivated land. Because walruses are good at diving into the seabed and digging mollusks in the sand with their long teeth. Walruses can dig for food at the bottom of the sea with long teeth because they are good divers. Walruses generally dive to a depth of 500 meters, and some can dive into a deep water layer of 1500 meters. Walrus can stay underwater for 2 hours after diving into the seabed. Once fresh air is needed, it only takes 3 minutes to surface. The reason why walruses have such amazing diving ability is mainly because their bodies are extremely rich in blood. Walruses' blood accounts for about 20% of their body weight, while human blood accounts for only 7% of their body weight. Because walruses have more blood and more oxygen stored in their bodies, it is not surprising that walruses dive deep and for a long time in the ocean. When walruses dive into deep water, because there is no sunlight at all, they rely on sound to locate, just like bats and dolphins.
Walrus recipes include fish, sea worms, squid, fish, small sharks, shrimp, crabs, and sometimes seals and narwhals, but most of them are oysters. Oyster is a kind of mollusk with hard shell, but it can't resist walrus at all. An adult walrus can eat about 7000 oysters a day and can suck oyster meat out of its shell in an instant.
The teeth of walrus also have economic value and medicinal value. As early as the middle ages, the powder ground from walrus teeth was a very important medicinal material. But it is this precious value that has also brought disaster to walruses. After 200 years of hunting, only tens of thousands of walruses remained in the world in the 1970s. Various protective measures taken in recent years have significantly increased the number of walruses. However, with the contraction of sea ice area in the Arctic Ocean, walruses have encountered a new survival crisis!