In NW Alaska, Thousands Of Walruses Come Ashore In Absence Of Ice - FWS Concerned - LA Times

[hatrack]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Thousands of walruses since late summer have congregated in haulouts on Alaska's northwest shore, a phenomenon likely connected to record low Arctic sea ice.

Joel Garlich-Miller, a walrus expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services in Anchorage, said Wednesday animals began showing up on shore in late July, a month earlier than usual. By August, several thousand animals -- far more than normal -- were bunched up in haulouts in a stretch of coastline from Barrow, America's northernmost community, to Cape Lisburne, about 300 miles to the southwest on the Chukchi Sea. "It's raising a bunch of conservation issues for us," Garlich-Miller said.

The agency's immediate concern is that groups of walruses congregated on land are susceptible to additional human contact, whether a low-flying airplane or a hunter's boat, that could can panic the group, setting off a deadly stampede to the water. But having animals concentrated on land instead of the vast expanse of the Arctic ice pack also raises stress issues, said Chad Jay, a U.S. Geological Survey biologist.

Walruses on shore may be forced to swim farther to forage, expending more energy. Researchers would expect increased mortality to calves, Jay said, if they try to stay with their mothers during feeding rather than resting on a platform of sea ice over feeding grounds. "You can imagine access to traditional foraging areas is diminished," Garlich-Miller said. "That is cause for concern."

EDIT

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-sea-ice-walruses,1,920267.story

[kestrel91316]

1. Well, once their population plummets, we won't have so

damned many walruses to WORRY about, now, won't we?

The FETUSES are what we need to worry about, people!!!1!!1!11!

[phantom power]

2. walrus fetuses?

[kestrel91316]

3. Oh, har dee har har.

:spank:

You bad.