Feds: No rest for the walrus
Federal wildlife officials have declined the suggestion of a wildlife advocacy group to place experimental rafts off Alaska's northwest coast as a resting place for walrus.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional director Geoffrey Haskett says the agency is studying Pacific walrus coming to shore in huge numbers along the Chukchi (chuk-CHEE') Sea because of shrinking sea ice.
But he says the matter for now is best addressed by keeping walrus undisturbed while scientists analyze whether gathering on shore is causing animals to use excessive energy for foraging.
An estimated 35,000 walrus were photographed Sept. 2 near Point Lay.
Sea ice has diminished because of climate warming. The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced Tuesday that Arctic sea ice in 2015 was the fourth lowest in the satellite record, reinforcing a long-term downward trend in Arctic ice extent.
Haskett's comments were in a letter to Oasis Earth. The group asked the agency to consider experimental rafts over walrus feeding habitat 100 miles off the coast.