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Teaming up to track the Pacific walrus

A collaboration between scientists and Indigenous Arctic community members

Two pacific walruses swimming on the surface of the ocean

Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) are the most abundant subspecies of this large tusked mammal found in the Arctic. Recently, the population was estimated at about 257,000 individuals, but there is still no complete understanding of how they are responding to rapid changes in the Arctic.

The Pacific Walrus 

Pacific walrus are an integral part of Alaska’s Arctic ecosystems and to Indigenous Arctic communities living along the Bering and Chukchi seas. Many Alaska Native communities depend on walrus for nutritional, cultural, spiritual, and economic purposes. WWF supports the food security needs of Alaska Native peoples and the legal rights of Alaska Native artists to use natural materials, like walrus ivory, for their work and livelihoods.

Counting all Pacific walrus is not feasible (or accurate) so researchers and wildlife managers collect tissue samples from a small number of walrus and then model population numbers using genetic data. Spring is the best time to study the animals—the sea ice they use as a resting platform starts to break up and conditions are easier for research vessel operations. However, the trip still requires knowledge of sea ice dynamics and walrus behavior to be successful and safe.

In Alaska, western scientists often collaborate with Alaska Native hunters when counting, tagging, and/or sampling wildlife. The Indigenous knowledge and expertise that these hunters bring encompasses everything from animal behavior and capture techniques, to reading the weather and sea ice. In June 2024, the Eskimo Walrus Commission coordinated with US Fish and Wildlife Service and US Geological Survey to bring Dana James, a St. Lawrence Island Yupik hunter from Gambell (Sivuqaq), on the 2024 Pacific walrus research cruise.

Dana has been going out on the ice his whole life and knows how to navigate it. Still, ice in the Chukchi and Bering seas is unpredictable, and unfortunately, the cruise vessel was trapped in shifting sea ice and sustained damage, and the research team became stuck, drifting in ice for 14 days. For the research crew, Dana’s expertise made the difficult situation easier, he kept watch in the bird box—an observation platform above the wheelhouse—and used his deep understanding of ice structure to advise the captain on the best path through areas of softer, thinner, and less compacted ice.

A man jumps high to touch a target with his feet

Team members participate in the ship’s Arctic Games competition.

Despite being unable to sample walruses, the team took a variety of samples from the sea floor and water column to learn about sediments, invertebrates, and harmful algal blooms. Lots of time was also spent learning about different cultures. For example, Dana coordinated an Arctic Games competition modeled after events often held in Sivuqaq communities in winter.

While the team didn’t gather all the information on walrus that they hoped for during that trip, the team hopes to run the cruise again in 2025. Obtaining accurate and regular population estimates of Pacific walrus is critical to understanding how warming seas and unpredictable ice impacts this critical loss of sea ice to Arctic species.

The experience also reminds us of the effects of warming oceans on people—ice is becoming more unpredictable, and help is not easily accessible in the Arctic seas when things go wrong. WWF is part of Arctic Watch, an initiative to improve safe Arctic shipping in partnership with the Marine Exchange of Alaska, Kawerak, Ikaagun Engagement, Ocean Conservancy, Alaska Conservation Foundation, Alaska Ocean Observing System, and the Marine Mammal Commission. Arctic Watch aims to work with coastal communities and vessel operators to build and share tools that safeguard vessels, coastal communities, and wildlife.

Thank you to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Geological Survey for sharing outcomes of this research cruise with WWF.

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