Between 10,000 and 20,000 walruses have come ashore in northwest Alaska because the sea ice they usually lie on has melted. No one has ever seen this many walrus stranded on Alaska's Arctic shorelines, and this unprecedented event is a direct result of global warming.
The Marine Mammal need sea ice for giving birth, raising their young and resting between periodic dives to the ocean floor to forage for food. When sea ice disappears, mothers and calves are forced to come to shore where young walruses are at risk of being trampled to death or attacked by predators. This year a lack of ice in the eastern Chukchi Sea has driven thousands of walruses to congregate on land.
The federal government has released a report that says there is a 40-percent chance that Pacific walrus will be on a path to extinction by century's end.
Tell U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Pacific walrus under the Endangered Species Act, designate critical habitat, and design and implement a recovery plan as soon as possible.
SOURCE:
http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4816
David Hayes
Deputy Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks
Washington, D.C. Office
555 Eleventh Street, NW
Suite 1000
Washington DC 20004-1304
202.637.2204 Phone
202.637.2201 Fax
david.hayes@lw.com
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Jim Balsiger, Regional Administrator
Alaska Region
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room 5128
Washington, DC 20230
Ken Salazar
Secretary of the Interior
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W. / Washington DC 20240
feedback@ios.doi.gov
Secretary_of_the_Interior@ios.doi.gov
Between 10,000 and 20,000 walruses have come ashore in northwest Alaska because the sea ice they usually lie on has melted. No one has ever seen this many walrus stranded on Alaska's Arctic shorelines, and this unprecedented event is a direct result of global warming.
The Marine Mammal need sea ice for giving birth, raising their young and resting between periodic dives to the ocean floor to forage for food. When sea ice disappears, mothers and calves are forced to come to shore where young walruses are at risk of being trampled to death or attacked by predators. This year a lack of ice in the eastern Chukchi Sea has driven thousands of walruses to congregate on land.
The federal government has released a report that says there is a 40-percent chance that Pacific walrus will be on a path to extinction by century's end.
We ask U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Pacific walrus under the Endangered Species Act, designate critical habitat, and design and implement a recovery plan as soon as possible.
