Published April 5, 2026 06:00AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In 2025, a walrus attacked intrepid traveler Ralph Spitzen while he was sea kayaking in Svalbard, Norway. Spitzen told <\/em>Outside what it\u2019s like to come face-to-face with one of the ocean\u2019s largest marine mammals\u2014and how his quick thinking may have saved his life.<\/em><\/p>\n Walruses are serious business. Reaching weights of up to 5,000 pounds, the massive marine mammals have tusks towering three feet in length. They\u2019re smooth, graceful swimmers through their cold Arctic waters and have been known to brawl with polar bears.<\/p>\n Needless to say, they\u2019re not an animal you want to come face-to-face with.<\/p>\n In June 2025, my wife and I were on a two-week cruise through Svalbard<\/a>, a cluster of Norwegian islands tucked into the Arctic Circle. It\u2019s a cold, daunting place teeming with wildlife like polar bears, whales, seals, and, of course, walruses.<\/p>\n Life in the remote Norwegian island chain of Svalbard is unlike any other. Given its Arctic environment, its name fittingly translates to \u201ccold coast. At three hours from Oslo, Norway, it\u2019s also extremely remote\u2014and those who live here are only allowed to do so if their health permits. Seriously, it\u2019s a government regulation.<\/p>\n In other words, it\u2019s a place where you don\u2019t want to face a life-threatening emergency.<\/p>\n Part of our cruise experience involved donning drysuits and kayaking through the frigid waters. Exploring Arctic waters requires preparation and specialized equipment, including a drysuit. The waterproof suit creates a barrier with the elements and keeps everything below it dry. Once you\u2019re in, the only parts of your body that are exposed are your head and hands.<\/p>\n On June 29, the air temperature hovered\u00a0around 30 degrees Fahrenheit, the skies were crystal clear, and there was no wind. We bundled ourselves up into our drysuits, put on our life jackets, and waddled out to our 17-foot kayak.<\/p>\n We paddled along an island called Nordaustlandet, a mostly ice-covered jut of land with a rocky coastline. Just before we launched, our guides had cleared the area to ensure there were no walruses or polar bears. Smooth sailing\u2014or so we thought.<\/p>\n As my paddle blade passed through the serene, still waters, I noticed a large dark-colored blob three feet off the bow, or front of, my boat. It must be a whale, I thought to myself. Within a second, another large, dark blob appeared under my boat and lifted my bow into the air.<\/p>\n Those blobs, turns out, were walruses. And they were capsizing my kayak.<\/p>\n At that point, I just said to myself, Ralph, you\u2019re rolling over, just go with it. There\u2019s nothing you can do to stop it.<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m 74, and I\u2019ve been adventuring around the world for more than half a century. This was my third trip to a polar region and not my first time kayaking in the extreme cold. Many years prior, I learned how to perform a\u00a0wet exit. It\u2019s a kayak technique used to escape a capsizing or submerged boat. When paddling, a kayaker wears what\u2019s known as a spray skirt to connect their torso to the boat. Once underwater, a kayaker can pull a loop off their skirt, lean forward, and push themselves out of the boat to the surface. Usually, the process lasts just a few seconds.<\/p>\n It all happened so fast. There I sat floating beside my inverted kayak. There were two females, a juvenile, and a calf walrus, all of whom were displaying defensive behavior<\/a>. For whatever reason, my boat and I had become a threat to them, and they were acting on it.<\/p>\n My guides acted quickly, bringing in another small boat with an engine, known as a zodiac. The vessel was loud and fast, and its driver created a barrier between the walruses in me. I was cold, a little spooked, but safe.<\/p>\nThe Cold Coast: Preparing for Svalbard<\/h2>\n
A Split-Second Encounter in the Arctic<\/h2>\n
The Wet Exit: How Training Saved My Life<\/h2>\n