35,000 Walrus Come Ashore in Alaska As Sea Ice Retreats

The images above show 35,000 Pacific walrus, all looking for a place to rest. They usually rest on Arctic ice. In these photos, they're all coming ashore in Alaska because there isn't any ice to be found.

As an early September study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science notes, walruses use floating sea ice as a place to rest between bouts of foraging for food in deeper ocean waters. When the sea ice isn't there -- the extent of Arctic sea ice has been declining rapidly for the past few decades, reaching an all-time recorded low in 2012 -- walruses are forced to forage for food closer to land.

 "We are witnessing a slow-motion catastrophe in the Arctic," Lou Leonard, vice president for climate change at the World Wildlife Fund, said in a statement that was reported by CNN. "As this ice dwindles, the Arctic will experience some of the most dramatic changes our generation has ever witnessed. This loss will impact the annual migration of wildlife through the region, threaten the long-term health of walrus and polar bear populations, and change the lives of those who rely on the Arctic ecosystem for their way of life."

http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/alaska-walrus-photos-20141002