Migration algorithm (MA) and walrus optimization algorithm (WaOA) are two new swarm-based metaheuristics which are first introduced in 2023. As new metaheuristics, the modification of these two metaheuristics is still rare. Based on this circumstance, this work constructs a new metaheuristic called as migrating walrus algorithm (MWA) based on the hybridization of both MA and WaOA to create a better metaheuristic than them. MWA consists of five migrations: four directed migrations and one local migration. The references used in these directed migrations are the best walrus, a randomly picked better walrus, a randomly picked walrus, and two randomly picked walruses. In this work, two assessments are carried out: the comparative assessment and the individual migration assessment. The 23 functions are selected as theoretical use cases. In the comparative assessment, MWA is confronted with five new metaheuristics: MA, WaOA, attack leave optimization (ALO), coati optimization algorithm (COA), and osprey optimization algorithm (OOA). The result shows that MWA is better than ALO, COA, MA, OOA, and WaOA in 19, 19, 19, 17, and 17 functions. On the other hand, the individual migration assessment result indicates that the multiple migration approach is important to maintain the superiority of MWA with the directed migration toward the best walrus becoming the most important contributor. This result also strengthens the necessity of the multiple searches strategy rather than a single strategy.