In this aerial photo taken on Sept. 23, 2014 and released by NOAA, some 1500 walrus are gather on the northwest coast of Alaska. CREDIT: AP/NOAA The gathering of 35,000 walrus on a beach in northwest Alaska this week after they couldn’t find their preferred resting grounds of summer sea ice was a notable occurrence in terms of its sheer size, but it wasn’t an isolated event. Walrus have been gathering on Alaska’s shore in huge numbers almost every year since 2007, a relatively new phenomenon that has scientists working to determine how this change in resting grounds affects the walrus’ behavior, food supply, and health. Typically, Pacific walrus, which don’t have the stamina to swim indefinitely and depend on sea ice for places to rest periodically, follow sea ice in the Bering Sea as it recedes north in the summer, ending up in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska.
Read more about Stranded Walrus Are A ‘New Phenomenon’ And We Don’t Know How Bad It Will Get
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