Octowalrus

This is an adult octowalrus. Octowalruses live in the deep part of the Arctic Ocean. Their favorite food is clams. They drag their whiskers and tusks in the sand to find clams. They are very rare because they get attacked by both great white sharks and polar bears. Baby octowalruses look like a tiny octopus with a fuzzy head, but as they grow they get their whiskers and tusks. They have an ink defense like octopuses, but they don’t get this until they are adults. They also have arm regeneration, which means that if they lose an arm, they can grow a new one. But they don’t have tusk regeneration. They have a hard head that lets them bust through the ice, and they are pretty good at crawling around on the ice. They lay 100-2000 eggs at a time, and the eggs are brown spotted with white stripes.

My dad and I took this picture on our recent expedition to the North Pole.