Aerial photo (Picture: AP Photo/NOAA, Corey Accardo)
Like a living wave, 35,000 Pacific walruses come ashore in record numbers.
The enormous gathering was spotted in Point Lay, a beach in north-west Alaska.
Fifty were killed in the stampede, said the US's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
35,000 walrus gather on shore near Point Lay, Alaska (Picture: AP Photo/NOAA, Corey Accardo)
Environmentalists said their arrival shows the sea ice the walruses normally use to rest on is melting much further north than in previous years due to climate change.
The World Wildlife Fund's Margaret Williams said: 'The Arctic environment is changing rapidly and it is time for the world to take notice.'
Walrus in zoo (not one of the ones on the beach (Picture: Reuters) Entities 0 Name: Corey Accardo Count: 2 1 Name: Alaska Count: 2 2 Name: AP Photo\/NOAA Count: 2 3 Name: US Count: 1 4 Name: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Count: 1 5 Name: Margaret Williams Count: 1 6 Name: Reuters Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1rx5JNE Title: 35,000 walruses 'haul out' on Alaskan shore Description: Haul out! That's what it's called when animals congregate in large groups, and that's just what's happening with 35,000 walruses on the shore of Alaska. But the phenomenon is no grand jubilee - The reason for the walrus gathering is bleak. The flippered marine mammals are changing their habits because of climate change, environmentalists say.
