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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Young Walruses Trampled by Stampedes in Warming Arctic


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A Pacific walrus lies dead in the sand following a stampede on Cape Vankarem, Russia, in March 2007.

Several thousand young walruses were trampled to death this year after giant herds of stranded animals got spooked and ran for the water, scientists report.

Disappearing sea ice has forced the mammals to crowd together on land instead of the ice floes they usually rest atop between hunts.

Photograph by AP/Pacific Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Anatoly A. Kochnev