Wildlife

Walrus Island

Rapidly retreating Arctic sea ice has driven several hundred Pacific walrus to an Alaskan barrier island weeks earlier than ever observed.

The marine mammals have historically conducted their “haulout” on sea ice, where they rest and feed.

But they began showing up instead on Point Lay along the Chukchi Sea coast in 2007 as global warming melted their icy habitat.

This year, they arrived two weeks before the previous earliest date in 2011.

Up to 40,000 of the marine mammals have crowded onto the narrow island in recent years, putting them at risk of deadly stampedes.