Walruses resting on shore at Cape Serdtse­Kamen' haulout area

Cape Serdtse­-Kamen' has been reported as a walrus haulout since the 1920. Up until 1990 it was used by walruses irregularly, only in autumn of years when sea ice was absent. Sporadic Aerial surveys have reported no more than 12 thousand walruses here from 1960 through 1990. However during the 1990’s and 2000’s local residents reported that walruses began hauling out annually in larger numbers. Biologist Anatoly Kochnev was the first to conduct continuous monitoring of the haulout during August through November of 2009, and estimated nearly 100 thousand walruses hauled out along a 20­km coastline. It became clear that at the end of autumn almost all of the Chukchi Sea portion of the Pacific walrus population had rested here. Since 2009 this haulout has been monitored annually by ChukotTINRO biologists. Location: Keniskin Bay to the west of Cape Serdtse­Kamen', Chokotka, Russia

Photographer: Anatoly Kochnev, Senior Scientist, Mammals Ecology Lab Institute of Biological Problems of the North Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences