35,000 walruses pack onto Alaskan beach after sea ice melts early

. Credit: Reuters

Fast-melting Arctic sea ice has forced some 35,000 Pacific walruses to retreat to the Alaska shoreline, according to scientists from several federal agencies.

Walruses are accomplished divers and frequently plunge hundreds of feet to the bottom of the continental shelf to feed.

But they use sea ice as platforms to give birth, nurse their young and elude predators, and when it is scarce or non-existent they haul themselves up on land.

According to scientists, the congregation of Pacific walruses - one of the largest ever - was prompted by a lack of sea ice. Credit: Reuters

"One of the differences between this haul out and other ones is the sheer size and number of animals coming to shore," said U.S. Geological Survey ecologist Chadwick Jay.

Researchers monitoring these patterns estimate as many as 35,000 walruses came to shore near the coastal village of Point Lay, about 700 miles (1130 km) north of Anchorage at the weekend Credit: Reuters

The ice dissipation was likely attributed to changes stemming from global climate change, Jay said.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist Joel Garlich-Miller said the most pressing conservation concern with such a massive gathering is the possible mortality rate, caused largely by stampedes.