'Endangered' Walruses Driven Ashore by Warming, Mass Die-Offs Occur [Reading Science]

US Geological Survey: "As Icebergs Disappear, Frequency and Size of Appearances on Beaches Increase"
Common for Dozens to Die After Jumping into the Sea Due to Human Threats

Walrus. Photo by Getty Images Bank

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The endangered Arctic walruses are increasingly gathering in the thousands on land as their habitat, the glaciers, disappear. Particularly, there are many heartbreaking cases where large groups of walruses, threatened by humans on the beach, rush into the sea and perish en masse.

Researchers Anthony Fishbach and David Douglas of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently published a paper on this topic in the international environmental journal "Remote Sensing." Walruses are an endangered species with only about 12,000 individuals left worldwide, mainly around the Arctic. They originally inhabit floating sea ice. This is to ensure stable rest and feeding without disturbance from other animals or humans.

However, due to recent global warming, the ice in the Arctic Ocean is rapidly decreasing. Every summer, about 13% of the sea ice disappears. As their habitat vanishes, walruses are often observed gathering in herds on land in places like Alaska and Russia. The research team compared satellite images from the Earth observation company Planet Labs with existing drone observation photos and confirmed that satellite photos also showed large herds of walruses coloring the Alaskan coastline reddish-brown.

Image of a walrus habitat on an Alaskan beach. Photo by Planet Labs

The research team explained in their paper, "It has been confirmed that walruses have recently been gathering more frequently and in larger groups on the coast between late summer and autumn to rest and feed," adding, "This is because the sea ice preferred by walruses is rapidly decreasing due to climate change."

This phenomenon is fatal to walruses. Many walruses, startled by threats from humans on the beach, rush into the sea and dozens die. Planet Labs explained, "Human activities frighten the walruses, causing them to rush into the sea in groups, resulting in many deaths during this process."

Additionally, this research result proves that satellite photography and analysis are emerging as important tools for observing species like walruses that are endangered due to climate change, surpassing traditional drone aerial photography.

Recently, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) also started a project to track walrus populations in the Arctic using high-resolution satellite images. The "Walrus from Space" project aims to count walrus populations along the northern coast of Siberia and the Laptev Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean, through citizen volunteer participation.

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