GLOBAL warning
WALRUS ISSUE
WORDS // CRISTINA FIELD
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This is the incredible moment that an Alaskan
beach became swamped under a seething
mass of 35,000 Pacific walrus, mostly
females and their pups, tightly packed tusk
to tail on the sand with barely a whisker
between them.
The super-social mammals love to gather
together for security, but until recently they
have not been seen on land in such awesome
numbers. And the spectacle is becoming
increasingly common with sightings in six of
the last eight summers.
Environmentalists have warned that the
massive “haul out”, as it is called, is a
consequence of global warming and spells
potential danger for the walrus.
Sea ice is critical for their survival. It is where
mothers give birth and raise their pups,
while adults use the icy platforms as bases to
forage for food and places to rest, safe from
predators and exhaustion.
But studies found the animals’ usual ice
havens were almost completely absent
as late as October from the Chukchi Sea,
bounded by Alaska and Siberia. The average
summer ice sheet covers 1million square
kilometres fewer than it did a decade ago.
Many scientists believe it is inevitable that
the sea ice will soon disappear completely
during the summer months.
Greenpeace say: “The Arctic is warming
faster than the rest of the globe and is
experiencing some of the most severe
climate impacts on Earth. One of the most
notable is the rapid decline in the thickness
and extent of sea ice…walrus depend on it.”
It is calling for a protected sanctuary around
the North Pole, banning oil companies
and destructive fisheries from the area to
preserve the Arctic’s marine life, including
iconic animals such as polar bears and
walrus.
The latest mass haul out was photographed
in late September by a pilot flying over an
island near the Alaskan outpost of Point
Lay. He spotted the seething mass of walrus
forming a semi-circle on the land below.
Walrus expert Dr Chadwick V Jay, of the
US Geological Service, explained: “In the
summer we’ve seen the sea ice recede far to
the north, making it very difficult for walruses
to make a living.”
The haul outs mean walrus have to swim
further to reach their favourite food of clams,
worms and snails that they harvest from the
seabed.
And they also present a real risk to the
animals of a stampede if the walrus are
alarmed. Dr Jay told the press at the time
of the haul out: “We see some cases where
animals are disturbed on shore, they flee into
the water and sometimes trample young.
Deaths occur.”
Climate change sceptics point out that haul
outs are not a new phenomenon and insist
links to global warming are “nonsense”.
