Mass death of walruses
September 19th, 2009
As many as two hundred dead walruses have been spotted on the shore of Chukchi Sea on Alaska’s northwest coast. Wildlife researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey report the dead walruses appeared to be mostly new calves or yearlings. They may have been crushed in a panic stampede triggered by a polar bear or a helicopter. Large numbers of walruses are gathering on Alaska’s northwest coast, a sign their Arctic sea ice environment has been altered by climate change, the second time in three years that this has happened. They cannot swim indefinitely and until recently used sea ice as a platform for diving in the Bering and Chukchi seas for clams and other food on the ocean floor. Now, sea ice has receded far beyond the outer continental shelf, forcing walruses to choose between riding the ice over waters too deep to reach clams or onto shore. More here
Meanwhile, Sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean reached the third lowest level on record last year, according to the latest NASA statistics. Here
Photo by Thundafunda
A review article in this week’s Science on the impact of climate change on the Arctic notes that ecosystems are changing fast, and that could portend more shifts in other parts of the world. The authors list numerous examples. Ringed seal pups in the Canadian Arctic have lost birth lairs to early spring melts, while warmer winters have allowed reindeer in Norway to thrive. Arctic fox populations are dropping as red foxes move north. And caribou calving has fallen out of sync with peak plant growth in Greenland, possibly explaining why calf survival has declined. 
With breathtaking views of the Himalayas, you can soar alongside Egyptian Vultures and Black Kites who will approach to take food out of your hand. They are specially trained rescue birds who can’t be returned to the wild. Among them is Kevin the young Egyptian Vulture, famous for his scrapes with Steppe Eagles. The ultimate aim of the venture is to draw attention to the serious decline of Asian vultures, being poisoned to extinction by vet-prescribed drug Diclofenac. Visit 
This year breeding conditions have been exceptionally good for budgerigars in Queensland, Australia. Heavy rain and river flooding revived the land, providing plenty of grass seeds for the birds to feast on. When all the available trees with the best nesting sites had been taken, budgerigars were laying their eggs on the ground. And now local people are marvelling at the unprecedented size of the flocks, turning the sky green. 
Customs officials first suspected the 22-year old Norwegian, who’d just stepped off a ferry from Denmark, when they spotted a tarantula scuttling inside his bag. They then noticed “his whole body was in constant motion”. The wriggling movement was due to the 14 baby royal pythons tucked away in socks strapped to the man’s torso. That wasn’t all: when the officials made him drop his trousers they found 10 cans taped to his legs, each containing an albino leopard gecko. As Norway bans the import of reptiles, including unendangered species like these, he has been fined 12,500 Norwegian crowns (£1,800). 
