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  • [MUSIC PLAYING]

  • [ROAR]

  • Hello, and welcome to Weird, gross, and Beautiful, a casual discussion about the animals that I think are weird, gross, beautiful, or all three.

  • Today, we're talking about the walrus.

  • Brrr-aw!

  • Walruses can be found in the Arctic Circle with all of their friends, or sometimes in Alaska.

  • Right now, they are supposed to be at the Arctic Circle.

  • But because of climate change, there is no ice.

  • There's no ice at all.

  • And so they have swam down, some 35,000 of them right now are hanging out in Alaska.

  • But it's not the first time that this has happened.

  • It happened in 2007, 2009, and 2011.

  • The extent of the ice is the sixth lowest that it's ever been, ever-- like, in history.

  • 35,000 of them, that is so many.

  • Why are there so many?

  • Because they're very gregarious animals.

  • They like to hang out.

  • They have groups that they hang out in that range from the tens to thousands.

  • Walruses are so huge.

  • They are one of the largest flippered marine mammals, in fact.

  • The males can weigh up to like 3,700 pounds.

  • Their skin makes up about 20% of that weight.

  • And the blubber that's underneath the skin is half a foot thick.

  • They're chubby.

  • They're so cute.

  • I just want to snuggle with them, but you shouldn't do that.

  • They're very territorial and very dangerous.

  • Yeah, them tusks, though!

  • They can grow to be about three feet long, and are actually canine teeth that grow like throughout their life.

  • They're found on both males and females.

  • And they use them for a variety of reasons.

  • Sometimes they use it to haul themselves out of water because they're so big.

  • And so they're just like, ah-ugh!

  • And then they flock onto the shore.

  • And they also use it to make breathing holes in the ice.

  • So they can be under water for about 30 minutes.

  • But since that's not a lot of very long time-- I mean, obviously, compared to us it's very long--

  • But they need them breathing holes.

  • The males can also use their tusks aggressively to maintain their territory or protect their harems.

  • Harems are groups of the lady walruses that all have sex with one dude.

  • The walrus harems have a ratio of 1:23, give or take.

  • But fortunately for the gals, they don't start giving birth until they're about seven or eight years old.

  • And they'll only give birth every three years because the gestation period is 15 months.

  • And once they have the babies, the babies need help from their mamas for over two years.

  • It's not like it matters, because he's got 22 other [BLEEP] to choose from.

  • When the babies come out, guys, they're huge!

  • They come out weighing anywhere from 99 to 165 pounds!

  • Ow!

  • And they gain two pounds per day.

  • That's insane.

  • I mean, it's to protect themselves from the cold, because they live in the Arctic, usually, when there's ice there.

  • The walruses have these little like mustache-looking whiskers, right?

  • And they're so-- they're super cute and I love them.

  • But they're not hairs.

  • They're actually very similar to cat whiskers.

  • They are functioning organs.

  • And they're called mustacial vibrissae.

  • Hey~ Mustacial?

  • Just like a mustache.

  • They're very sensitive, and so they will use them to find their favorite snacks, specifically like shellfish, at the bottom of the sea floor.

  • And they'll use their little whiskers.

  • They're going to be like, oink, oink, oink, oink, is how I image they sound on the bottom of the sea floor, although, that's probably very inaccurate.

  • That walrus in "Alice in Wonderland" was a douche.

  • What a rude cartoon character.

  • He ate up all those little oysters.

  • They were just babies.

  • Man, these walruses are weird, gross, and beautiful.

  • Thank you so much for watching Weird, Gross, and Beautiful.

  • My name is Catie Wayne.

  • And if you would like to, you can follow me on Twitter at catiewayne, and suggest an animal for me to cover.

  • This week's animal was suggested by Molly Fosco.

  • Thank you so much, my love.

  • Mwah!

  • And if you would like to, please check out this video over here about how we killed half of the animals on the planet.

  • Bush babies, see you never in my life because I killed half of you!

  • And please like and share this video with your friends.

  • And you know, I love you all so much.

  • And I'll see you next time.

  • Bye.

  • Mwah!

  • [HOOTING]

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