Another Mustachioed Hipster Moves to Brooklyn

October 21, 2012 6:17 AM

A Fat Mustachioed Orphan Finds a Home. (NYT, MLWP, video within*)

Rescued as orphans this summer by Iñupiaq hunters from the ocean off Alaska's northern coast near Barrow, 2 baby walrus pups have been rehabilitated by the Alaska Sealife Center. Pakak was found on July 21, Mitik on the 29th.

Pakak (Iñupiaq for "gets into everything") is headed to the Indianapolis Zoo. Mitik, (named for the daughter of the hunter who found him) with more fanfare, is making his East Coast debut at the New York Aquarium, where the "plucky" Mit will join Kulu (now 17) and Nuka (nearing the end of her natural lifespan at 30). This is good news for both Kulu and Mit, since walruses are extremely social animals who are very unlikely to survive in isolation. Mitik, at a hefty 234 pounds and about 16 weeks, is already "adapting to life in the city."

New York's children welcome Mitik with drawings. (NYT) TimeOut Kids is also on the case.

New York's Hipsters also welcome Mitik, as Jezebel observes that "like many youths who grew up weak and nerdy but now have a mustache and are looking to find themselves a community that really gets them, the 234-pound baby walrus is packing up and heading to Brooklyn." (Gothamist gets in on the celebration with even more pictures.)

And now for the Baby Walrus VideoSquee Extravaganza:

Mitik settles in at the New York Aquarium.

Mitik and Pakak play at Alaska SeaLife Center.

SeaLife Center welcomes baby walrus (first video, posted previously on MetaFilter.)

*"MLWP" = "Multiple-Link Walrus Porn."

posted by spitbull (27 comments total)

I posted the August 4 thread as well, but that is now archived and this seemed like a substantial update with a lot of new and adorable content and some real news about the pups. I waited a week for someone else to post the update, since the story and pics went sort of viral over the last week. So I hope this post is ok with everyone.

Besides, new walrus videos, amirite?

And this holiday giving season, perhaps consider the good work done by the Alaska SeaLife Center, whose mission is getting overwhelmed by the extraordinary effects of climate change on marine habitats in Alaska.

posted by spitbull at 6:28 AM on October 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

It never occurred to me that a walrus pup would want to snuggle and sleep after being fed. That's just awesome.
posted by hippybear at 6:39 AM on October 21, 2012

The LOLrus has returned! And he's got his bucket!
posted by Carol Anne at 6:43 AM on October 21, 2012

BTW, this was my favorite of the kid's drawings.
posted by spitbull at 6:47 AM on October 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also, slight correction, the correct term for these guys is "calf," not "cub."
posted by spitbull at 6:59 AM on October 21, 2012

I would vote for this Mit. Thanks for the update spitbull, I'd missed the first FPP.
posted by arcticseal at 7:07 AM on October 21, 2012

Those kids' drawings are adorable.

This one wouldn't strike me as obvious for a child in the 21st Century to create, but it had me grinning.
posted by droplet at 7:13 AM on October 21, 2012

A Fat Mustachioed Orphan Finds a Home.

Whew, for a second there I thought it was another one of these cases.
posted by Rykey at 7:16 AM on October 21, 2012

They're not orphans. Jamie Hyneman is alive and well.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:24 AM on October 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

BTW, this was my favorite of the kid's drawings.

I don't know. Those mountains, so protean, appear to be the half-understood representation of Mountains of Madness!

On the other hand, the walruses (walri? walroses?) seem to be Walruses of Gladness!, so I guess it balances out....
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:40 AM on October 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

It never occurred to me that a walrus pup would want to snuggle and sleep after being fed.

It makes sense to me, because after I eat, all I want to do in the whole world is snuggle with a baby walrus. So it's only fair.
posted by davidjmcgee at 7:43 AM on October 21, 2012 [4 favorites]

Yeah, actually walruses are generally not found near mountains. But I love the way the kid drew the offset reflection of Mit's face in the water.
posted by spitbull at 8:07 AM on October 21, 2012

Well, except for the elusive land-dwelling mountain walruses. Scientists still doubt their existence, but there has been some grainy black and white movie footage taken and some suspicious prints have been found here and there. Someday we will actually find one. Someday...
posted by hippybear at 8:12 AM on October 21, 2012 [3 favorites]

But actually, if you look at it, it's Mit who's near mountains, which would make sense if he's supposed to be in Seward, and his relatives are shown appropriately floating on a piece of sea ice.

By the way, most of those LOLRus images show elephant seals, sea lions, or bearded seals.
posted by spitbull at 8:18 AM on October 21, 2012

lolrus ruiner!
posted by elizardbits at 8:32 AM on October 21, 2012

... walruses (walri? walroses?)...

I am so going to be using these plural forms.

Buckets for Mitik and Pakak, STAT!
posted by BlueHorse at 9:17 AM on October 21, 2012

As a career walrus-username-haver, I'll let you in on an insider tip: the hot new walrus pluralization is "walrodes", inspired by "octopodes". You heard it here first.
posted by valrus at 9:45 AM on October 21, 2012 [2 favorites]

Well, except for the elusive land-dwelling mountain walruses. Scientists still doubt their existence, but there has been some grainy black and white movie footage taken and some suspicious prints have been found here and there. Someday we will actually find one. Someday...

I'm positive I saw a documentary about this a few years ago, directed by famed naturalist John Carpenter and starring an adorable 190-lb walrus pup named Wilford. I think maybe there was some other stuff too, but it can't be that important.
posted by Merzbau at 9:48 AM on October 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ah, but what's the collective noun? Herd? Pod? Murder of walruses?
posted by Merzbau at 9:49 AM on October 21, 2012

Officially it is "herd," but in the evocative spirit of "murder" and inspired by images such as you see here, I would like to propose "fallow." A fallow of walruses. Or walrodes, if you're cutting edge.
posted by valrus at 9:56 AM on October 21, 2012

I'm positive I saw a documentary about this a few years ago

Save the Mountain Walrus. It's on the internet; it must be true!
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:32 PM on October 21, 2012

We should be sure to tell children about the rare mountain walrus, in order to raise awareness in the next generation.
posted by Countess Elena at 1:05 PM on October 21, 2012

A Fat Mustachioed Orphan Finds a Home.

Surely I wasn't the only one here who was expecting this post to be about "Mr. Belvedere?"
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 3:14 PM on October 21, 2012

Or Mario. We've never seen his parents.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:42 PM on October 21, 2012

Mit has been the desktop of my computer at work since I saw the first article. The failure of my coworkers to recognize how totally adorable he is makes me think they're replicants.

"You're reading a news article. You see a link to a story about a baby walrus. You click the link, and you see a picture of a baby walrus. Due to the adorable facial structure of the walrus, and their big black eyes, it appears to be beckoning you to play games with it."
posted by Ghidorah at 8:56 PM on October 21, 2012

Officially it is "herd," but in the evocative spirit of "murder" and inspired by images such as you see here, I would like to propose "fallow." A fallow of walruses. Or walrodes, if you're cutting edge.*

The plural of walri? You were close, valrus,* but obviously it has to be a 'wallow' of walruseses!
Or perhaps a cram. Or a guzzle.
A guzzle of walri.

*valrus--Eponisterical!
You are a vampire walrus? A Valkyrie walrus? Valuable, valorous, valvating?
posted by BlueHorse at 10:52 AM on October 23, 2012

New York Aquarium May Evacuate: Hurricane Sandy Power Outage Threatens Coney Island Institution
posted by homunculus at 1:23 PM on November 2, 2012