The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) captured images of hundreds of walruses on the shore of Alaska. The place isn't typically the favorite hangout of the animals but their changing environment has prompted them to congregate along the stretch of the beach.
About 35,000 walruses were photographed congregating in the northern shores of Alaska, near Point Lay, in what one expert described as one of the largest gatherings of walruses that were documented in Northwest Alaska. Another group of walruses were also found converging on Russian side of the Chukchi Sea.
The reason behind the animals' changing behavior is bleak. Walruses are known to rest in sea ice in between hunting for preys. The disappearance of the ice that these flippered marine mammals depend on for respite has forced them to find an alternative resting spot.
Summer ice has receded in recent years because of the warming of the climate and the large group of walruses did not likely find any ice to rest in between dives indicating another unwanted consequence of global warming.
World Wildlife Fund's Arctic program managing director Margaret Williams said that the animals' behavior is another sign of the dramatic changes in environmental conditions that were caused by sea ice loss.
"The walruses are telling us what the polar bears have told us and what many indigenous people have told us in the high Arctic, and that is that the Arctic environment is changing extremely rapidly and it is time for the rest of the world to take notice and also to take action to address the root causes of climate change," Williams said.
Unfortunately for the walruses, gathering in large crowds onshore poses some problems and potentially fatal risks. Smaller walruses, for instance, could be trampled to death during stampedes and the walruses that gather this time of the year are females and juveniles. Shorelines are also far from the best feeding spots.
No signs of major problems have so far been identified at the site where the large marine mammals have converged but some dead animals have been found. NOAA reported that at least 36 dead walruses have been found and these included adult and juvenile animals. Andrea Medeiros, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said that the service plans to send a team to the site to conduct necropsies on the dead animals to know their cause of death.
