Thousands Of Walruses Showed Up On AK Barrier Island In July - Earliest Haulout On Record
Thousands of Pacific walruses have been spotted on an island off the northwest coast of Alaska in what is their earliest appearance on the state's shores—something experts have put down to rapidly receding Arctic sea ice and unusually warm ocean temperatures.
Sea ice off northern Alaska usually reaches its summer minimum in September, but recent high temperatures in the region—which have seen records smashed across the state—have meant that the ice has disappeared much earlier than normal, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The walruses were seen near the Iñupiaq village of Point Lay which is located on a barrier island in the Chukchi Sea, according to environment officials. This is the first time a herd has been seen in the area in the month of July.
"This is the earliest date that large numbers of walruses have been confirmed on shore at Point Lay," Andrea Medeiros, a spokeswoman for the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in Anchorage, told AP.
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https://www.newsweek.com/climate-change-pacific-walruses-alaska-temperatures-1452354