"The Calves Were Swimming Around Us, Crying. We Couldn't Rescue Them."

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON - Arctic researchers who discovered a surprising number of abandoned baby walruses say melting sea ice may be the culprit, according to a study in the April issue of Aquatic Mammals.

During an icebreaker cruise in the Canada Basin two years ago, researchers measured a unusually warm mass of water -- as high as 44 degrees F (7 C) -- moving into the area from the Bering Sea to the south. This warm water may have rapidly melted seasonal sea ice over the shallow continental shelf north of Alaska, the study said.

They also found nine lone and possibly abandoned walrus calves in the area, an "unprecedented number" for walruses since mothers tend to stay with their calves for two years. "We were on a station for 24 hours, and the calves would be swimming around us, crying. We couldn't rescue them," said team member Carin Ashjian, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

EDIT

Sightings of solo walrus calves far from shore have not been reported before and suggest increased polar warming may take a toll on the walrus population, the study said. "If walruses and other ice-associated marine mammals cannot adapt to caring for their young in shallow waters without sea ice available as a resting platform between dives to the sea floor, a significant population decline of this species could occur," the researchers concluded.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36000/story.htm

[walkon]

1. I am afraid

that climate change is more like a snow ball rolling down hill than it is a glacier slowly retreating. I am also afraid that we can do little to slow, much less reverse what is happening to the earth.

[cain_7777]

21. Be very afraid!

Global warming is upon us but bible humpers refuse to admit to reality. They believe that some all powerful being created everything specifically for them so how could global warming be possible. Also by acknowledging Global warming, bible humpers would be conceeding to science and hard facts instead of their faith in superstition. Ignorance is disgusting and the problem is getting worse because of the dumbing down of America, i.e. Intelligent Design.

[Lorien]

2. That's just horrible

it must be terrifying for those animals. We're causing so much suffering on this planet, and with political will and a bit of brainpower much of it could have been avoided. :cry:

[bdamomma]

4. geez, this regime

is killing off everything. Kyoto protocol, was poo-pooed by this regime. Jeez, they all suck.

[roguevalley]

18. they are wonderful babies. we get them from time to time and they

have to be cuddled constantly when they are brought in. they have to sit on your lap and feel your heart beat. they are so tender and fragile, they REQUIRE this. this makes me vomit. :(

[Lisa]

3. I forwarded this to a Parks Canada employee I know ...

She's a zoologist, and we were at the same Arctic research station, years ago. She was very disturbed to hear this -- not just because she knows what an impact this could make on a slow-breeding population (like many marine mammals are), but because of how scared and hungry the poor pups must have been. (She volunteers at the SPCA in her spare time.) A lot of scientists feel intensely sad about the things they are seeing.

[schmuls]

5. I'd love to see all the Neocon criminals responsible for this

swimming around crying because they are starving and drowning. It would be a start.

[formercia]

22. The problem is we are all responsible to some degree

every time I leave a lightbulb turned on when it doesn't need to be and lots of other little things. They all add up.

[Beaverhausen]

6. Oh this is terrible

:cry:

[brokensymmetry]

7. K & R.

Words fail me.

[phantom power]

8. Do you hear them in your sleep, Clarice? The calves?

And the polar bears?
And the birds?
And the seals?
And the salmon?
And the zooplankton?
And the humans?

[Dead_Parrot]

12. All is silent, down at the pond... nt

[Beaverhausen]

9. give this one more vote to get on the greatest page

:hi:

[nicknameless]

10. .

:cry:

K&R

[Beaverhausen]

11. Leftchick found a story that they all may have died

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x955713

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. I haven't weighed in on the baby seal thing, but now I'm gonna.

Are seals experiencing the same problem? If so, does it make sense to kill their young when the melting ice flows will kill thousands more?

[1620rock]

14. The monsters in this cabal sicken me to the core of my soul...

:cry:

[hatrack]

15. In at least one case, something similar happened

There are a couple of islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence which were crammed to bursting - as in hardly a spare foot to walk on - with seals this year.

That's because the sea ice didn't form so far soutn, and the pregnant seals jammed themselves onto the rocky shores of the islands (the name escapes me at the moment) only to have thousands of pups swept out to sea when storm-force waves and winds came down on the beaches.

I want to say it was late February - early March, but I can't remember for certain.

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. This is a crime.

I would wish a pox on anyone who would make their situation worse, but the reality of the pox is that what goes around, comes around.

[Hekate]

16. Haunting, haunting

Those cries will haunt me.
And the whales dead of our military sonar. :cry:

Some members of our species cannot share anything, they want all of everything, and deal out death casually, unconsciously, and without conscience..... Bush-Cheney-Rove, Inc. stand at the head of that line.

Hekate

[BrightKnight]

17. images

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060413_walrus_pups.html

[Dogmudgeon]

20. Imagine when it's baby humans

We're going to see a lot of cute baby animals dying in the next few decades. It will be all we can manage to keep the cute baby humans alive.

That day isn't too far off.

Taking massive preparatory action NOW would prevent a lot, or most, of the dying, but I strongly doubt that we'll do it.

Sure, everybody and every creature dies. But dying miserably, and while young, from preventable causes, is truly a crime. And for this to happen to so many species (including our own) is ecocide.

--p!