SAVING THE PACIFIC WALRUS. Alaska Distribution: Mainly inhabits the shallow continental shelf waters of the Bering and Chukchi seas. (Linnaeus, 1758), and the Pacific walrus, O. r. divergens (Illiger, 1815) (Figure 1, Tables 1 and 2). New research indicates that the … Other dangers include habitat disturbances, ocean acidification, and toxic pollution. The Pacific Walrus inhabits the area from the eastern East Siberian Sea through the Chukchi Sea all the way to the western Beaufort Sea and southward to the waters of the Bering Sea. Eskimo Walrus Commission represents Alaska’s coastal walrus hunting communities in the co-management of the Pacific walrus population. In other words, the current population, which is believed to be similar to those earlier ones, may also be at maximum levels of sustainability. Atlantic Walrus Population. Walrus is an essential cultural, natural, and subsistence resource to St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Central Yup’ik, and Inupiaq people

Walruses occupy a large area Virtually the entire population occupies the pack ice in the Bering Sea in the winter months. The status of the Pacific walrus stock in the Laptev Sea is currently unknown (Laidre et al. 2014a, 2014b).

Common Name: Pacific Walrus Scientific Name: Odobenus rosmarus divergens.

A major threat to the Pacific walrus is oil and gas exploration and drilling in the Chukchi and Bering seas.

Pacific walrus populations in Alaska’s Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea area halved between 1981 and 1999. Atlantic walrus abundance, similar to the situation in the Pacific, has largely been dictated in the past by hunting intensities through time (Stewart et al. Further, age cp tracked changes in Pacific walrus population size as a proportion of carrying capacity, decreasing when the population was depleted by commercial hunting and peaking when carrying capacity was exceeded. With tusks like an elephant and the body of an overgrown seal, the Pacific walrus is one blubbery beast.

Pacific walrus population size has varied substantially in the last 150 years, it increased between 1960 and 1980 and may have reached the carrying capacity of the marine environment. The Laptev Sea population was once considered a separate subspecies but recent studies support its recognition as the westernmost population of Pacific walruses. This ungainly animal, often gathered en masse on rocky beaches or seen riding ice floes, dives into the water and rhythmically transforms into a wave gliding through the sea, completely at home in its arctic environment.

The majority of the population of the Pacific Walrus will congregate in the summer months in the southern regions of … 2015). 2009, 2016; Lowry 2015). The Pacific walrus is one of several species that could be destroyed entirely due to the industry; the species has already lost thousands to climate change, industry, and hunters. In the 1950s, the population of walruses was almost eliminated due to commercial hunting, but the population was brought back to a thriving number in the 1980s. Walruses in the Laptev Sea area were once considered a separate subspecies but are now recognized as the westernmost population of the Pacific walrus (Lindqvist et al. The loss of the species will upset the ecosystem, as walruses keep the mollusk population under control. POPULATION TREND: Commercially exploited for centuries, Pacific walruses have …

Two Pacific walrus populations are recognized, one in Russia’s Laptev Sea and the other, shared by Russia and Alaska, in the Bering and Chukchi seas.