A local expert with SeaWorld San Diego is working across oceans to save a walrus calf that was found by hunters orphaned and malnourished in Alaska.
The 10-day-old walrus calf was found last month on the shores of a beach named Utqiagvik — one of the most northern parts of Alaska — after a walrus herd had departed. She was isolated and underweight.
Knowing the calf was in danger, the hunters called the Alaska SeaLife Center, who picked up the animal. They then turned to SeaWorld San Diego’s senior zoological specialist Denise Higginbotham to lend her expertise in saving its life.
As a long-standing partner of ALSC, SeaWorld was the first zoological facility with the expertise to care for walruses to mobilize within a 24-hour notice to support and provide care to the calf during the critical time.
Higginbotham packed her bags and was on her way to the remote center. Working on timed shifts, the local walrus specialist put 14 years of walrus experience to use working to nurse the animal back to health.
“When she first came in, she was approximately 140 pounds,” Higginbotham said via a Zoom call from Alaska. “In general, walrus calves are born at about 150 to 200 pounds. So she, at 10 days old, was already much smaller than that.”
Higginbotham said she and the experts at the center have been working 24 hours a day, essentially becoming “surrogate moms” in the enclosure for the animal.
“Every animal and every patient gets their own treatment, so whatever she needs is going to be what happens,” she said. “And if that takes longer than other patients, then that’s absolutely what’s going to happen.”
The walrus calf needs to eat thousands of calories of food a day to get back to being a healthy weight, Higginbotham said.
“It’s a slow process,” Higginbotham said. “Over the course of the two weeks that she’s been here, she’s happily put on about 10 kilograms so far. But she’s made really good progress because she definitely lets us know when she is ready for a bottle.”
While they are rehabilitating the animal, Higginbotham said she might be able to offer researchers a window into scientific discovery. Walruses generally have their caves on ice, but due to climate change, the amount of birthing ground space has become more limited.
In this particular animal’s case, she was born on a crowded beach, which may have contributed to her abandonment and can be a predictor of the fates of future calves.
“Looking at energetics and climate change are things that, down the road, are going to be really impactful, and just understanding her as an animal can provide all sorts of information,” she said.
But despite all the progress that she has made, it might be unlikely that the calf is able to make a return to the wild, Higginbotham said.
Walruses are social animals that live in herds, but at this point, it’s a possibility that the walrus will not be a candidate for the wild because, normally, calves are raised by a mother for about two to three years.
“That’s really important contact time, socialization time, and right now she is not given that opportunity except from humans,” Higginbotham said. “So, it’s not probably in her best interest to be released without any of those social skills.”
The specialist said a group of accredited experts from across the country will make the final call and decide if a wild release is in the best interests of the calf later down the line.
In the meantime, while experts decide what to do with the animal, Higginbotham said the calf will continue to work toward rehabilitation — and keeping her “mom’s” attention.
“She is so stinking cute,” Higginbotham said. “Pictures don’t even do it justice.”
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