Back on topic....
msnbc has this about a 'record-breaking' 35,000 walruses: Pacific walrus that can't find sea ice for resting in Arctic waters are coming ashore in record numbers on a beach in northwest Alaska. Unlike seals, walrus cannot swim indefinitely and must rest.
Females give birth on sea ice and use ice as a diving platform to reach snails, clams and worms on the shallow continental shelf.
In recent years, sea ice has receded north beyond shallow continental shelf waters and into Arctic Ocean water, where depths exceed 2 miles and walrus cannot dive to the bottom. Walrus in large numbers were first spotted on the U.S. side of the Chukchi Sea in 2007.
...also:
"The gathering of walrus on shore is a phenomenon
that has accompanied the loss of summer sea ice as the climate has warmed."
Here is a copy of the photo:
http://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2014/10/07147758.jpg...click on link to see larger, high-res. version of
35,000 beached walruses!....
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