Why Walruses Need a Good Dentist #shorts

#walrus #kpassionate #shorts
Walrus tusks, just like the tusks on an elephant, are modified teeth. In walruses, they are their upper maxillary canines. Walruses also have other teeth such as premolars, molars, and incisors. But tusks are different from the rest of their teeth in several ways. For one, they constantly grow throughout their lives. Second, they’re not used for eating.

See the full video here: https://youtu.be/Z3KmiKbq7Jo

Both male and female walruses have tusks and they use them to climb out of the water and onto the Arctic ice flows. Sort of like built in ice picks. Because walruses are big and it’s not easy pulling their huge bodies out of the water. They’re even named after this behavior. The scientific name for walruses, odobenus rosmarus, means “tooth walking sea horse.”

Which leads me to the most frequently asked question on my walrus videos. “What are the metal caps on his tusks?” Long story short, the caps are preventative dentistry.

Unlike the rest of their teeth, walrus tusks lack protective enamel. This makes them vulnerable to cracking, chipping, and breaking. Especially in the wild. Because of sinking sea ice, it’s becoming more and more common for walruses to haul out on land and rocky beaches which are far less forgiving than ice. A damaged tusk can lead to a life threatening infection because the roots of a tusk grow deep into the sinuses and very near to the brain. The metal caps prevent that from happening. Whenever I see a wild walrus, or any walrus for that matter, the first thing I look at is their tusks.

The walruses in this video are named Balzak and Lakina. They were born at the Aquarium du Quebec in 2016 and I was one of the lucky marine biologists with the privilege to work with them! During that time, these walruses participated in several important research projects into the metabolism of juvenile walruses and this information was used to enact laws and policies aimed at protecting their cousins in the wild.

Recently, Lakina and Balzak have moved to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium where I now have the opportunity to work with them again after several years. They look great and I can't wait to see more of them in the near future!

The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent Metro Parks Tacoma’s positions, strategies, or opinions.

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