Researchers noticed thousands of walruses piling onto a remote barrier island.
Scientists said it is difficult to determine the exact number of walruses on the piece of land from only aerial photographs, but estimate that there were between 1,500 and 4,000 animals there on Sept. 12, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries press release reported.
By Sept. 22 the number of walruses on the island grew to between 5,500 and 8,000, the populations was at around 10,000 only five days later.
"Large walrus haulouts (resting on the beach) along the Alaskan coasts in the northeastern Chukchi Sea are a relatively new phenomenon," Megan Ferguson, marine mammal scientist with NOAA Fisheries, said. "NOAA's research doesn't typically extend to studying walruses, since this is a species managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), so you can imagine how exciting it was for us to be able to collect such valuable data for our partner agencies."
The congregating walruses once used nearby sea-ice as a resting place in between dives. The walruses swim to the shallow bottom of the Chukchi Sea to feed on worms, snails, and clams. Since sea ice is rapidly disappearing, the animals have been hunting closer to shore.
The first Arctic haul out was observed in 2007, around the same time as an "unprecedented loss of sea ice across the Chukchi Sea."
"The coastal aerial surveys carried out by the NOAA team provide valuable information about the timing and location of coastal haulout formation on the Chukchi Sea coast," Joel Garlich-Miller, Wildlife Biologist with the USFWS, said. "Scientists and coastal communities use walrus haulout information to establish and adapt protection measures to minimize disturbances from aircraft overflights and ship traffic. The coastal surveys also provide valuable baseline information about important coastal habitats for walruses, which can be used to evaluate and mitigate potential impacts of proposed projects in the Chukchi Sea region."
