Another Walrus Haul-Out Along Shore Of Bering Sea Under Way In Absence Of Sea Ice
Pacific walrus have come ashore on the northwest coast of Alaska in what has become an annual sign of the effects of climate change.
"There appears to be several thousand animals up there," said Andrea Medeiros, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage.
Images of the walrus were captured over the weekend by a photographer not affiliated with the agency near Point Lay, an Inupiat Eskimo village 700 miles northwest of Anchorage and 300 miles southwest of Barrow. Walrus have been coming to shore on the U.S. side of the Chukchi Sea in large numbers for about eight years. They also come to shore on the Russian side.
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Walrus in large numbers were first spotted on the U.S. side of the Chukchi Sea in 2007. They returned in 2009, and in 2011, scientists estimated 30,000 walruses along 1 kilometer of beach near Point Lay. Last year, an estimated 35,000 walrus were photographed 5 miles north of Point Lay.
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http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/walrus-leave-ice-ashore-alaskas-northwest-coast-33369279
