35,000 WALRUS HAUL OUT ON SAND INSTEAD OF ICE IN ALASKA

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - 35,000 WALRUS - GLOBAL WARMING - ALASKA

EXCERPT: Summer sea ice is retreating far north of the shallow continental shelf waters of the Chukchi Sea in U.S. and Russian waters, a condition that did not occur a decade ago," the USGS website says. "To keep up with their normal resting periods between feeding bouts to the seafloor, walruses have simply hauled out onto shore."

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The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which tracks the status of species worldwide, says there's not enough information about walrus population trends to say whether the species—which has three subspecies, the Atlantic, Pacific, and Laptev walrus—is in decline.

However, "climate change is expected to have negative consequences for Walruses, and particularly severe consequences for the Pacific subspecies," according to the IUCN website.

For one, calves are particularly at risk of disease and from stampedes. Upon a disturbance, whether that's a polar bear or a boat in the distance, walruses tend to rush to the water.

WALRUS BABY WALRUS

ONE GREEN PLANET REPORTS ON WHALES AND DOLPHINS IN PRISON

ONE GREEN PLANET - WHY WHALES AND DOLPHINS DO NOT BELONG IN TANKS

EXCERPT: Depression, aggression, poor dental health, self-mutilation, vomiting, suicide attempts, drugs, illnesses – don’t these all seem like signs ultimately leading to death? According to a research study conducted in 1995 by Robert Small and Douglas Demaster, the annual mortality rate for captive dolphins was two and a half times higher than that of wild cetaceans. Sadly, not much has changed since then for the benefit of captive cetaceans. While wild killer whales have been known to live as long as 80 to 90 years, only two female orcas in captivity have passed the age of 40, and no males have lived longer than 35.