Walrus Worries

Walrus Worries

Biologists in Alaska are counting walruses in the Arctic Ocean. The goal: To decide whether the walrus is an endangered species

By Laura Slot
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1905849,00.html

In 1990, biologists counted 201,039 walruses in the Arctic Ocean. Now, almost 20 years later, there seem to be fewer. After three years of counting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that there are only 15,164 walruses in the area. But, scientists say, they're not finished counting.

"We're still working on the final population estimate," said Suzann Speckman. She is a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Endangered Species?

What's a possible reason for the lower walrus count? Brendan Cummings, a spokesperson for the Center for Biological Diversity, thinks many walruses are dying. He believes global warming is melting the ice in the waters between Alaska and Russia. That's the area where most walruses live. The chubby mammals with the big tusks use the ice to dive and hunt from.

But other scientists aren't so sure that the walruses are dying out. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Doug Burn said, "We realized we were missing a lot of walrus groups." So the walrus count goes on. The counting hasn't been easy. Scientists sometimes have to guess the number of walruses that are underwater. And some technical problems made counting more difficult. A method that counts the mammals using body heat did not work. It delayed the operation by a whole year.

U.S. law requires scientists to count the walruses every three years. Then, if the mammals turn out to be an endangered species, they will be counted every year. As the current count goes on, it will become clearer to scientists just how the walrus is doing in the wild.

Max-I think that the main cause of fewer and fewer walruses is global warming. Because hotter temperatures will let the ice in the Arctic Ocean melt faster, causing the walruses have no place to live and starting to die. So we need to reduce carbon dioxide to let the walruses have place to live, not to let them extinct!