Walruses on packed Alaska beach may have died in a stampede

Thousands of Pacific walrus are coming toAlaska's northwest shore again in the absence of summer sea ice and
not all are surviving.

A survey Monday of a mile of coastline near the Inupiaq Eskimovillage of Point Lay found 64 dead walruses, the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service told The Associated Press.

Most of the animals were younger than a year old. The cause ofdeath is not known, said agency spokeswoman Andrea Medeiros, butstampedes set off when startled walruses rush to the sea, crushingsmaller animals are a likely suspect.

"Our thinking is, because of the age of the animals they wereyoung animals it's likely that it was caused by a stampede, probably more likely than disease, given the age class," Medeirossaid.

Bears, hunters, airplanes can be the spark

A polar bear, hunter, airplane or boat can cause a stampede. Alaska Native residents of Point Lay, who may legally hunt walrusfor food, expressed concern after seeing an airplane flying near theherd and possibly circling.

"That certainly is a concern," Medeiros said. "That's not whatwe want people to be doing."

Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines instruct pilots ofsingle-engine planes to stay at least a half-mile away from walruses
on land or ice, and if closer, to fly above 610 metres.

The guidelines call for helicopters and multi-engine aircraft tostay a mile away, or if closer, above 915 metres. The
agency warns that it is only guidance but creating a disturbance isa violation of federal law.

No ice, busy beach

Several hundred walruses came ashore near Point Lay on Aug. 3,the earliest recorded appearance of a herd in a phenomenon tied toclimate warming and diminished Arctic Ocean sea ice.

• Loss of sea ice leads walruses to early appearance in Alaska

A week later, the number had grown to 2,000. In the past month,30,000 to 40,000 walruses at times have crowded the beach, Medeirossaid.

Walrus dive hundreds of feet to eat clams on the ocean bottom,but unlike seals, they cannot swim indefinitely.

Historically, seaice has provided a platform for rest and safety far from predatorsfor mothers and calves north of the Bering Strait.

However, sea ice has receded much farther north in recent yearsbecause of global warming, beyond the shallow continental shelf,over water more than 3,050 metresdeep. That's far toodeep for walruses to reach the ocean bottom.

Instead of staying on sea ice over the deep water, walruses havegathered on shore to rest.

No witnesses

Calves born earlier this year are especially vulnerable whenshoulder to shoulder with mature females that weigh more than a ton.

Residents of Point Lay reported three to five dead walruses inearly August. A community member who works with the Fish andWildlife Service counted 64 dead walruses Monday and tagged them sothey would not be counted in a later survey.

The agency hopes to send a veterinarian to determine the cause ofthe deaths. No one has witnessed a stampede.

"Depending on when the last time he did his survey, it may be anaccumulation over several weeks," Medeiros said.

Climate change the biggest threat

Shaye Wolf, climate science director for the Center forBiological Diversity, who wrote the 2008 petition to list walruses
as threatened or endangered species, said the Fish and WildlifeService should review guidelines for protecting walruses.

"These animals are suffering a great deal of stress from climatechange, and when they're pushed ashore, they should get very strongprotections from disturbances," she said.

The ultimate threat to walruses is the rapid loss of sea ice dueto climate disruption, she said, adding that rollbacks of climatechange protections by the Trump administration will further endangerthe animals.

Ice in the Chukchi Sea has not reached its minimum for 2017.Walruses likely will keep coming ashore until ice starts to re-formwith the onset of winter, Fish and Wildlife said.