Sound Production

• Walruses have vocal cords.
• Walruses produce sounds both above and below water.
• Walruses are among the most vocal of the pinnipeds. They produce growls, taps, knocks, grunts, barks, soft whistles, rasps, and clicks.
• Male walruses produce bell-like sounds below water. These sounds are not produced by the vocal cords but originate from air sacs, which extend from the pharynx.
• Calves bellow if disturbed.
• Adults engaged in dominance conflicts may snort, cough, or roar.

Display Behavior

• Walruses communicate through auditory and visual displays.
• During courtship, males display visually and vocally from the water. Stereotyped sequences of sounds occur both above and below water. Underwater sounds include clicks or knocks, bell-like sounds, and taps. Above-water sounds include teeth clacking and whistles. Courtship displays continue until a female physically contacts a displaying male in the water.
• Males engage in tusk-threat displays to establish dominance.

Other Communication

• Walruses communicate through sound, sight, touch, and smell.
• Tactile communication occurs through body contact.
  
  • Walruses haul out in herds in close contact with one another.
  • A mother shelters her calf under her chest between her foreflippers. A calf often rides on its mother's back in the water.
  • Adults engaged in dominance conflicts may strike each other with their tusks