Reply #5: That must have been heartbreaking to see [View All]

[jpak]

Walruses are very social animals and the young ones are very needy of mothers and other walruses.

When I was in the Arctic in the late 90's, a young walrus mistook one of our zodiacs for an adult walrus. It pulled itself up on an ice floe, let out a big sigh of relief and cuddled up to it.

After a few minutes of "holy fuck!!" comments from the zodiac team, the little guy finally realized his/her mistake and swam off (looking back pathetically the whole time).

I always wonder what happened to that little one...