Walruses at the Sea-Ice Edge

Walruses at the Sea-Ice Edge is an original illustration set in Chukchi Sea Coast, Alaska, USA. It lies in the polar circle, where the climate is tundra — too cold for trees.

A group of walrus rests on a narrow gravel spit beside broken pack ice. Two massive adults show long tusks, deeply wrinkled hides and heavy whiskered muzzles. The sea beyond is grey-blue and scattered with floes under low Arctic light.

Why do walrus need ice close to shallow water?

Walrus feed on clams on the seabed and need ice or land close to shallow water to haul out between dives. When the ice retreats past the continental shelf they are forced onto beaches like this one, crowding in numbers the site cannot support. The tusks are used to lever out of water and to hold breathing holes open.

Terpano is a free daily geography puzzle. You study one original illustration, place a pin on a borderless terrain map, and see how close you were. There is no account and no sign-up; progress stays in your own browser. It plays in 11 languages.