No ice, so 35,000 walruses crowd beach

Tens of thousands of walruses have been congregating on a beach in northwest Alaska for weeks because they have been unable to find sea ice on which to rest.

An estimated 35,000 Pacific walrus were photographed near the village of Point Lay, 1,100 kilometers from Anchorage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The image raises further concern about global warming.

“It’s another remarkable sign of the dramatic environmental conditions changing as the result of sea ice loss,” Margaret Williams, managing director of the group’s Arctic program, told Associated Press.

“The walruses are telling us what the polar bears have told us and what many indigenous people have told us in the high Arctic, and that is that the Arctic environment is changing extremely rapidly and it is time for the rest of the world to take notice and also to take action to address the root causes of climate change.”

The gathering of walruses has been attributed to the loss of summer ice because of warmer seas.

US Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Andrea Medeiros, said the walruses were seen on September 13 and had since been moving on and off shore.

About 50 carcasses were on the beach, probably those of animals killed in a stampede, AP reported.