walrus

Walruses are among the most prominent marine mammals encountered during the Nautilus's voyage into the Antarctic seas. On March 20, 1868, while exploring the polar continent, Professor Aronnax and Conseil came upon a vast herd of these animals on the ice floes and shores near the South Pole. The walruses were distinguished from seals by their lack of external ears and, most notably, by their two long upper canine teeth, which form tusks up to eighty centimeters long with a circumference of thirty-three centimeters at the socket. These tusks are made of solid ivory, harder than elephant tusks and less prone to yellowing, making them highly sought after by hunters. The walruses observed were four meters long, with rough, heavy hides of a tan color leaning toward reddish brown, and short, sparse coats. They were more tranquil and less fearful than their northern relatives, posting no sentinels on guard duty at the approaches to their campsite. The herd was engaged in what sounded like a choir of bulls, but the noise was not anger—it was glee. Aronnax noted that walruses are the victims of mindless hunting that soon will destroy them all, as hunters indiscriminately slaughter pregnant females and youngsters, with over 4,000 individuals destroyed annually. This observation aligns with Captain Nemo's broader philosophy of conservation, as he later refuses Ned Land permission to hunt baleen whales for sport, arguing that such killing is reprehensible and that humans have already depopulated entire regions. The walrus, like the baleen whale, is presented as a creature under threat from human rapacity, its fate a microcosm of the larger ecological destruction wrought by commercial hunting.