How do walruses eat / use their tusks?

The walrus sucks the meat out by sealing its powerful lips to the organism and withdrawing its piston-like tongue rapidly into its mouth, creating a vacuum. The walrus palate is uniquely vaulted, enabling effective suction.@http://www.thereefs. read more

Viola is about 99% right (and I'm impressed!). However one small addition, they also use their whiskers as feelers. The other thing is that they do not actually dig up the clams, they just bite the necks off. And now for the fun fact of the day: the half-digested clams out of the stomach are considered quite a delicacy among some walrus hunters. read more

According to the Smithsonian Institution's Arctic Study Center, a walrus can eat up to 4,000 clams in one feeding. When food is hard to come by, walruses will also eat the carcasses of dead seals. Offspring. Female walruses give birth to their young, called calves, during their migration in the springtime. read more

Walruses use their iconic long tusks for a variety of reasons, each of which makes their lives in the Arctic a bit easier. They use them to haul their enormous bodies out of frigid waters, thus their “tooth-walking” label, and to break breathing holes into ice from below. read more

Walruses use their tusks to break through ice, and to assist in climbing out of the water and onto the ice. The animals also use their tusks to defend themselves from larger predators and to establish dominance and a hierarchy among walruses, according to the ADW. read more