Help name New York Aquarium’s baby Pacific walrus
September 30, 2007 at 4:54 pm Leave a comment
Better brush up on your Yupik.
A Pacific walrus weighing 250 pounds has been born at the New York Aquarium – and officials want the public to name him.
The catch is that you’ve got just four choices and they all have to be in the Siberian Yupik language, which is spoken in the Russian Far East and on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.
Baby Pacific walrus frolics with her mom at the New York Aquarium, where the cutie was born back in June.
The playful calf – which eats 70 pounds of fish a day – was born June 12. He gains up to 3 pounds a day while noshing on herring, capelin and squid and frolicking at Sea Cliffs, a rocky ocean-edge habitat at the Coney Island, Brooklyn, aquarium.
“This baby is a genius,” said Kate Mcclave, curator of aquatic health sciences and living systems. “He’s fantastic.”
His mom is Kulusiq, a 13-year-old weighing 1,800 pounds. The proud papa is Ayveq, who’s 12 feet long and tips the scales at 2,700 pounds. They’ve been at the aquarium since 1994, when they were rescued off St. Lawrence Island.
Voting has started, and you can cast your ballot at nyaquarium.com/babywalrus. The names to pick from are: Utvak (ice made from snow or ice cube); Ukiivak (king island); Utumek (earth) and Akituusaq (gift given in return.) The winning name will be announced Oct. 12 on the “Today” show.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: Get Wet.
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