Tens of thousands of walruses concentrating along Alaska’s shore as sea ice vanishes

By Nick Sundt
11 September 2010 Alaska Dispatch in Anchorage reported yesterday (10 September 2010) in Massive walrus haulout observed near Point Lay, Alaska that USGS researchers were estimating that “anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000” walruses now have hauled out along Alaska’s Chukchi coastline.  “Walruses have been known to haul out onto land in large numbers in Russia,” the article says, “but never on the Alaska side of their migratory corridor in the tens of thousands, as is being witnessed this year.” On 30 August we first noted evidence that walruses were being forced ashore as sea-ice disappeared from the Chukchi (see Walruses Again Being Forced Ashore as Arctic Sea Ice Retreats).  Arctic sea ice continued to decline and by Friday 3 September had dropped to the third lowest extent on record (see Arctic Sea Ice Extent Now Third Lowest on Record — and Still Dropping), as the USGS reported that thousands of walruses were hauling out on the Alaska shore (see USGS Alaska Science Center Weekly Highlights for 9-2-2010 and our 7 Sept 2010 posting, USGS Confirms Thousands of Walruses Hauling-Out on Alaska’s Northwest Coast as Sea Ice Rapidly Retreats). …

Tens of Thousands of Walruses Concentrating Along Alaska’s Shore via Wit’s End