8,000 Walruses Congregate along Alaska Shoreline, Unable to Find Sea Ice Near Feeding Areas (Photo)

We reported on 12 Aug that walruses, driven ashore by the lack of Arctic sea ice over shallow waters, were starting to "haul out" along the Alaskan shores of the Chukchi sea (see Arctic Weather Pattern Likely to Push Arctic Sea Ice Extent to Record Lows, Again Forcing Thousands of Walruses Ashore). Airborne observers now report that by 17 August, "[a]pproximately 8,000 walruses were observed hauled out on land slightly north of Point Lay [Alaska]."  See the photo below.

Above: "Two large walrus haulouts (estimated sizes 5000 and 3000 animals) sighted during COMIDA flight 234 [PDF] [17 August 2011]. The haulouts were located slightly north of Pt. Lay, at 69.81N, 163.06W, separated from one another by a very short distance. In the vicinity of the sighting, the COMIDA team was flying the coastal transect one km offshore, with the aircraft at 1550’, and no reaction by the walruses was noted." (click on image for larger high resolution image).  Source: Blaine Thorn (National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

The photo was taken during a survey flight of the Chukchi Offshore Monitoring in Drilling Area (COMIDA) marine mammal aerial survey project.  According to the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Cetacean Assessment & Ecology Program, Bowhead Whale Aerial Surveys Web site, the goal of the project and other surveys "is to document the distribution and relative abundance of bowhead, gray, right, and fin whales, belugas, and other marine mammals in areas of potential oil and natural gas exploration, development, and production activities in the Alaskan Beaufort and northeastern Chukchi Seas" (emphasis added).

As shown on the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Alaska Science Center page on Walrus radio-tracking in the southern Chukchi Sea 2011, by August 7 sea ice cover in the southern Chukchi Sea was already minimal and some radio-tagged walruses were beginning to haul-out on shore in Alaska. 

This forced migration to shore began three weeks sooner than observed last year. The massive walrus haul-outs of 2010 began the fourth week of August (compare 2010 and 2011 animations showing daily locations of radio-tagged walruses). Last year an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 walruses ultimately hauled-out on the Alaskan shoreline of the Chukchi Sea, mostly  near Point Lay. The long swim to shore, mostly by females and young walruses, poses risks for the animals; and they face further hardships onshore as they compete with large numbers of walruses for food and can be trampled by larger walruses.

"These dangerously large walrus haul-outs in the Chukchi Sea are a direct result of extreme Arctic sea ice melt caused by climate change," says Geoff York, a wildlife biologist with WWF's Arctic Network Initiative.  Walruses, polar bears, and people in the Arctic are increasingly threatened by climate disruption, vividly demonstrating the urgent global need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to prepare for the impacts.

Above: Walruses haul-out along Alaska's shoreline of the Chukchi Sea as sea ice disappears from the region in September 2010. Source: USGS.

We have not yet received reports of large haul-outs on the remote Russian shores of the Chukchi, though sea ice conditions there are similar to those of 2009 when massive haul-outs were observed there. 

We reported extensively on the large scale haul-outs of 2009 and 2010 along the Alaskan and Russian shores of the Chukchi Sea (access our coverage at Arctic Sea Ice Decline and its Impacts: Online Resources).  Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that the Pacific Walrus "is primarily threatened by the loss of sea ice in its arctic habitat due to climate change." 

Online Resources

Arctic section of WWF-US Web site

Arctic section of WWF International Web site

Arctic section of WWF Canada Web site

WWF Climate Change Blog:

• Arctic Sea Ice Decline and its Impacts: Online Resources.  WWF Climate Blog.
• Melting Sea Ice is Forcing Polar Bears to Swim Longer, Increasing Cub Mortality 07/20/2011
• Arctic Unravelling: Scientists Report on a Decade of Unprecedented Change in the Arctic.  4 May 2011.
• Faces of Climate Change, Video Documentary on the Disruptive Consequences of Climate Change on Alaska's Marine Ecosystems. 04/12/2011
• Video: Veteran Meteorologist Explains How a Warm Arctic is Disrupting Your Weather. 02/27/2011
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Pacific Walrus "warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act".  2/09/2011.
• Polar Bear Population in Canada's Western Hudson Bay Unlikely to Survive Climate Disruption.  02/08/2011.
• Arctic Sea Ice is Among World's Most Threatened Ecosystems. 01/19/2011.
• Polar Bears to Remain as Threatened Species.  01/19/2011
• Arctic Sees Second Lowest November Sea Ice Extent on Record, Favoring another Cold Season of Extremes in Mid-Latitudes. 12/06/2010
• Citing Threat of Climate Change, U.S. Designates Nearly 187,000 Square Miles as "Critical Habitat" for Polar Bears 11/24/2010 
• Scientists Report that as Arctic Sea Ice Declines, Weather Impacts Spread into Northern Mid-Latitudes  10/21/2010
• Scientists Report that as Arctic Sea Ice Declines, Weather Impacts Spread into Northern Mid-Latitudes .  21 Oct 2010.
• Extinction: It's not just for Polar Bears anymore .  WWF Climate Change Blog, 26 Sep 2010.