Alaska’s northwest coast is becoming a popular spot for a specific crowd: the Pacific walrus.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said an estimated 35,000 walrus were seen Saturday near Point Lay and attribute the congregation to a lack of sea ice.
That humongous group was photographed about 700 miles northwest of Anchorage during NOAA’s annual arctic marine mammal aerial survey.
Typically walrus dive from sea ice to feed on snails, clams, and worms on the ocean floor but in recent year the giant mammals have come ashore as sea ice continues to recede past shallow water and into parts of the Arctic Ocean where the water can be 2 miles deep.