Part of a series based on Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity by Bruce Bagemihl. Walruses are massive arctic pinnipeds, a group of marine mammals that includes seals. Males can grow up to 12 feet long and weigh 3,500 lbs. January to March is the heterosexual breeding season. Males mate with several females but form no long-lasting bonds. At other times when both sexes are present, they are mostly segregated. When the females and their calves go north for the summer, it’s time for the males to stay behind and really indulge their inner gay Walrus.
In groups of up to fifty individuals, male walruses float at the surface and engage in homosexual courtship, intercourse and affection. They solicit boyfriends by perching on their favourite boulder or beach, inflating their throat pouches and issuing a series of vocalisations. One or both males may also dive and resurface until his intended gets the message and/or the horn. Sometimes a group will gather round to hear a homosexual courtship song, or the courting Walrus will be accompanied and helped out with his song by a younger attendant male.
Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)
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