Snuggling With A Baby Walrus

Ever wondered what it would feel like to snuggle with a baby walrus? Well get ready to find out. Anchorage Daily News columnist Julia O’Malley experienced this feeling firsthand when she went to visit two walrus orphans that were being cared for by the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. According to her “Snuggling with a baby walrus feels like being pinned under a warm, very chubby person who is wearing a damp velour jumpsuit that smells faintly, almost pleasantly, like low tide.”

Julia O’Malley intially thought that the animals would be stand offish when it comes to dealing with a new human but they surprised her by lumbering right over to her and snuggling up to her. “They lumbered right over to me and photographer Marc Lester and smacked us with their velvety bowling ball heads. Then they started barking,” she wrote. “They sounded like a couple of smokers hacking into a megaphone.”

The way these orphans isn’t unusual in the slightest. Walruses are naturally affectionate animals and will snuggle together for warmth and comfort even in the wild. “They’re very social, tactile animals,” Alaska SeaLife Center President Tara Jones says. “Sometimes the two animals will provide that to each other and sleep on top of each other almost, and sometimes they’ll curl up to one of their human caregivers.” Check out the video of these two walruses hanging out below.

Signed, Isidori Mtabo