A female reached about 1,500 pounds. Walruses are famous for their tusks, which are actually big canine teeth. Male tusks can measure up to 39 inches and weigh 12 pounds each. Females have tusks too, but slimmer and lighter ones. These big teeth help walruses haul themselves out of the water and onto pack ice, where they sleep, molt and give birth to their young.
Tusks are also useful to walruses for feeding.
The walrus glides along the ocean floor using its tusks like sled runners while searching for clams with its whiskers. When it finds clams, the walrus separates the meat from the shell with its unusual tongue and oddly-shaped mouth. Walruses are protected under federal law, but they are still illegally pursued in a practice called head hunting. Bodies of headless walruses sometimes wash up on Alaska and northern island coasts, victims of tusk hunters who cut the heads off and discard the bodies. I watched the big, friendly walrus swoop, swim and wave until the park closed.