Walruses in Svalbard, Norway 30 Sep 2024

Walruses in Svalbard, Norway

What"s the perfect thing to do under the midnight sun? If you"re a walrus like the ones in today"s image, the answer might be taking a quick dip with your crew, chowing down on clams and mussels, and then sunbathing on a beach or ice floe. Welcome to Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean halfway between Norway and the North Pole. Photographed in the waters off Spitsbergen, the largest of the archipelago"s nine islands, these aquatic mammals are year-round residents that are often found in male or female herds. Male walruses can be almost 3.6 metres long and weigh more than 1,180 kilograms, and during mating season, they use this girth to fight among themselves for dominance over groups of females, called harems.

© AWL Images/DanitaDelimont

palette

Today in History

Giants of the Southern Ocean
30 Sep 2023Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA
30 Sep 2025Koala in the Great Otway National Park, Australia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

27 Sep 2023Via Krupp, Capri, Italy
8 Feb 2026Corfu, Greece
Sep 1, 2023National Mushroom Month
23 Jan 2025Sundance Film Festival
Ever seen garlic bloom?
16 Sep 2024Wallabies, Australia
21 Feb 2026Red fox, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, United States
30 Jul 2025International Day of Friendship
A light in the coastal darkness
A right royal tradition
22 Jan 2024Walton Lighthouse, Santa Cruz, California, USA
7 May 2024A duckling swimming in a water meadow, Suffolk, England
23 Apr 2024Saint Georges Day
11 Feb 2025Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China
4 Feb 2025Golden Bridge, Bà Nà Hills, Da Nang, Vietnam
An explosive history
The Riviera of India
21 Jan 2026Squirrel Appreciation Day
Meet for lunch?
A day for cousins of every stripe
12 Sep 2025World Dolphin Day
Panoramic Penzance
The oldest way to fly
13 Jan 2025Happy Welsh New Year!
Unbe-leaf-able
Sunset on the Valley of the Moon
15 Jun 2024Trooping the Colour
Fit for a king
23 Jun 2024Dhaka, Bangladesh
A rocky wrinkle in time