Sign of warming: 35K walruses 'haul out' on Alaskan shore

Haul out!

That's what it's called when animals congregate in large groups, and that's just what's happening with 35,000 walruses on the shore of Alaska.

But the phenomenon is no grand jubilee: The reason for the walrus gathering is bleak. The flippered marine mammals are changing their habits because of climate change, environmentalists say.

Photos taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's annual Arctic marine mammal aerial survey show the massive number of walruses about five miles north of Point Lay, on the northern coast of Alaska. According to the Associated Press, walruses have also gathered on the Russian side of the Chukchi Sea.

Unlike other sea mammals, walruses must come onto land to rest, generally using sea ice to recharge. Dramatic temperature changes have altered the landscape, melting much of that sea ice and changing natural bodies in the Arctic.

"The walruses are telling us what the polar bears have told us and what many indigenous people have told us in the 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 cause of climate change," Margaret Williams, managing editor of the World Wildlife Fund's Arctic program, told the AP.

This summer saw an annual low point that was the sixth smallest since surveillance of the ice began in 1979, according to the AP.

The World Wildlife Fund's post on walruses explains further:

"The retreat of sea ice caused by climate change forces walruses ashore, with deadly consequences. As arctic sea recedes far from the Russian and Alaskan coasts due to warmer temperatures caused by climate change."

"Haul outs" to this degree can be dangerous for baby animals, which are susceptible in stampedes.

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