The Blog for Tooth Walking Sea-Horse Enthusiasts
Showing up on multiple Twitter feeds right now, including mine (@walrusweb) is this highly cute video of a baby otter(!) playing with a stuffed walrus. Nothing more need be said…
Click on the graphic or hit the link to view the whole video. If you’re having a long day, I highly recommend it. Thanks Cheezburger Network – we’ll revisit you when we’re ready to lay out the saga of the LOLrus.
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2010/11/08/funny-pictures-video-otter-walrus/
The World Wildlife Fund has what I think will be the perfect Christmas present for me this year. It’s the Walrus Adoption Kit!
Drifting slowly on ice floes through the Arctic waters of Canada, Alaska, northeast Russia, and Greenland, the walrus is easily recognized by its massive size and impressive tusks. With Arctic ice melting due to warmer temperatures, the walrus is losing its primary habitat for resting, birthing, nursing calves, and protecting itself from predators.
Each symbolic adoption kit includes a:
- high-quality wildlife plush.
- reusable gift bag, made from recycled plastic.
- personalized adoption certificate.
- letter that identifies you as the gift-giver.
- details on the work that your gift will help support.
There are 3 levels, $100, $50 and $25. Not all of the amount is deductible since you get the cute stuffed walrus, but helping the walrus is not about the tax deductions. This time is definitely making it onto the list of great walrus-related Christmas gifts, which is a future post I’m putting the finishing touches on for the near future. Until then, go buy one for the walrus-lover on your Christmas or Holiday list.
Here’s the link: Adopt a walrus kit from World Wildlife Fund
The Daily Galaxy alerts us to the following:
This stunning image of Alaska’s annual walrus migration is from the new National Geographic mini-series, Great Migrations, which will premiere this Sunday in high-definition and include seven episodes focused on the inspirational, often harrowing animal migrations across the globe.
The story goes on to highlight various quotes from articles about current global warming concerns and the major haul-out that has occurred this fall, which we have blogged about int he recent past. In case we get fooled for a minute thinking that walruses are just good models for stuffed animals and amusing cartoon characters, the Daily  Galaxy article ends with the quote:
Unless we dramatically reduce our greenhouse emissions, the walrus is on a trajectory toward extinction
Here’s a link to the entire Daily Galaxy story.
Here’s a link to the Great Migrations page at National Geographic.com (warning this page launches with rather loud advertising audio). My son and I will be tuning into watch this show tonight, and I hope they’ll make it available on-demand, since I’m notoriously bad at watching shows when they are actually scheduled to be on. Oh, it’s on the National Geographic channel by they way.
One more interesting note, to me at least. The photo heading the post, and the Daily Galaxy post, is by Paul Nicklen and is available as Desktop Wallpaper from National Geographic.com and you can buy a photographic print of this photo at the National Geographic photo store at this link. I did! I’ve had this photo framed on my wall for over a year, after I saw it in the print edition of the Geographic (April 2009). So uh, don’t sue me Paul, for using your print on this post – I bought one!
I remember back in the day when the occasional National Geographic special would be a family event, where we would all gather around the TV and wait for that short lead in “Special!” long before cable TV and several constant National Geographic channels. Looking forward to that feeling tonight. I’ll be watching for walruses!
I stumbled across this print on Twitter the other day – the artist is Scott D. Ferguson (@Sc0tticus). He draws a webcomic called “Nerf This“. I like his illustration style. I’m also beginning to think I’m the only one online that doesn’t currently draw a webcomic…
You can purchase the print at the nerf-this web store at this link. The perfect accessory for any drawing room, library, or old school wood-paneled smoking den festooned with hunting trophies.
This morning brings us another endless stream of people Twittering the chorus of “I Am the Walrus”. It is continually amazing to me how many people all over the world, in several languages, feel the need to tweet some permutation of the phrase “I am the Walrus”. Another thing that amuses me is how people are spelling whatever it is that the Beatles laid down as the final phrase in the chorus. My interpretation has always sort of been “Koo Koo Ka Joob”, but here are a list of five current versions of this lyric on the Twitter just now.
Of those, today there seems to be worldwide consensus on “Goo Goo G’Joob” which I haven’t seen much recently but is very common this morning. Â A week ago, around John’s birthday, it was different.
I’m not sure why this has captured my interest this morning, and sorry it’s not ‘really’ walrus related but there you are!
Oh, this is too bad. I would have like to have met Nereus. Breaking news from the Indianapolis Zoo:
We are very sad to report that our Pacific walrus Nereus has died from complications of a sudden and devastating illness. Nereus died yesterday afternoon during a medical procedure to treat his illiness, and the results of the necropsy performed last evening (the animal version of an autopsy) revealed that he suffered from a terminal condition caused by a very large mass that damaged his internal organs and compromised his spine, resulting in neurological problems. He will be very much missed by the entire Zoo family, including staff, members, visitors, donors, volunteers and friends.
Many, many people are posting pictures and memories to the Zoo’s Facebook page – if you ever met Nereus, or wish that you had, you should visit the page.
Turns out Nereus was a social media user with an amusing twitter feed @NereusWalrus
I’ve been meaning to post about the “gulf walrus” for some time. I was appalled of course to learn about this story, surely you remember the outcry during the height of the oil spill when it became obvious that the oil companies had apparently used “Save-As” to create their Gulf of Mexico wildlife protection plans. (Here’s an article to refresh your memory). So today as I’m trolling Twitter for good walrus-related tweets – I happen across this highly amusing ad for “Save the Gulf Walrus T-Shirts”.
These are a recent product from an apparel/designed goods company called “Dirty Coast” based in New Orleans. Their products and their site are well designed, amusingly written, and they seem to be doing what they can to build and grow a locally-focused and locally-proud business in New Orleans despite what seems to us outsiders like constant cataclysmic opposition from the elements and etc.
It wasn’t until the BP Oil Gusher could not be contained that the plight of these very, very, very rare animals was given international attention. Like BP and most other Oil companies, we too believe that protecting the Louisiana Walrus is an important part of any contingency plan after a disaster. Now that is is 6 months after the BP incident we wanted to remind everyone of the Gulf Walrus.
Forgive me for lifting this graphic and description – you should visit this site – it will make you smile, and buy a shirt ’cause an animal as rare as the Gulf Walrus needs to be protected. Only YOU can help!
Back to the Gulf Walrus -the quote I most remember from this debacle is attributed to ExxonMobile CEO Rex Tillerson who let fly with this classic in congressional testimory, “And it’s unfortunate that walruses were included. It’s an embarrassment that they were included.”
Of course I agree but I have adopted the concept of the “walrus” to represent any unwanted item or word in a document. “Make sure the check this proposal for walruses!” I might say. Well, I haven’t said it YET, but I’d sure like to . One of these days, the time will be right….
Oh, you can follow WalrusWeb on Twitter!
Here’s s a link to the excellent Walrus photo gallery at National Geographic.com
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/photos/walruses
National Geographic has been the gold standard of wildlife photography pretty much my whole life, and these photos are no exception.
So last night my son and I were at his school carnival, which is a crazy, far-too-crowded affair at which every kid in the school and their parents and scored of other people all jam themselves into the elementary school gym and play carnival games in order to win candy and donated stuffed animals. My son was frantically searching for any donated Pokemon plush, but at this one game we found a true score as he won a walrus! This is an “official” picture, the one we won doesn’t have the “Ty” tag, but he does have a small label reading “Paul”. I chuckled at the joke, saying to my 9 year old son, “Turns out Paul was the walrus after all”. Of course he had no idea what I was talking about.
I don’t know anything about Beanie Babies – my sum total of knowledge would be just an awareness of the crazy antics surrounding them when they were popular. I’ve never had any, or course, and they were “over” long before my son was on the scene. I thought that the Beatles reference on the label was just a sly in-joke, until I looked up Paul the Walrus on Amazon. That’s when I found out that it was not so much a sly reference to the Beatles, as a full-on exploitation of the whole Walrus/Beatles thing. I guess every Beanie Baby has a poem, and Paul’s is:
Traveling the ocean in a submarine
Singing and playing a tambourine
One day hoping to lead a band
First he needs to find dry land!
The description goes on to describe another Beanie Baby called “Ringo the Raccoon” and this is where I decide to stop investigating before I find out what they’ve done to John.
http://www.amazon.com/Ty-Beanies-Babies-Paul-Walrus/dp/B00000JTER
