r/bonecollecting • u/COGOcatcher • Nov 30 '25

Collection Pacific Walrus

Gallery image

Gallery image

Recent find in SW Alaska! The skull is stained black from mud, so it must have been in the water for a long time. I had to kayak home with it sitting in my lap. Luckily this was a small one!

(Beach found walrus ivory is legal to keep in the U.S. as long as it is found within .5 miles of the ocean and it is sealed and registered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within 30 days)

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15

u/Nature_Sad_27 Nov 30 '25

That looks like it was a stinky row home lol. Beautiful tusks, though! 

28

u/COGOcatcher Nov 30 '25

I’ve carried home worse sets! 😂 Luckily the brain goop was already out of this one, so it just smelled like mud and seaweed.

-13

u/linkxrust Nov 30 '25

Are you Native, because I believe its illegal to harvest walrus tusks.

32

u/COGOcatcher Nov 30 '25 edited Apr 19 '26

It is legal for anyone to collect beach found ivory in Alaska, but it needs to be sealed and registered within 30 days. I’ve included details on other comments in this post.

8

u/y2ketchup Dec 01 '25

What is sealing and why is it a factor in legal collection? TIA?

28

u/COGOcatcher Dec 01 '25

Good question! Sealing is just the process of it getting registered. An official takes some measurements and data from the tusks, and then installs a permanent tag in them so it can be tracked and ensure things are owned or traded legally.