The rehabilitation center in Seward doesn’t usually get bearded seals, which live much farther north.
Three of the walruses had low to moderate levels of saxitoxin, while the fourth one had high levels.
Walruses over the last decade have come to shore on the Alaska and Russia sides of the Chukchi Sea as sea ice diminishes because of global warming.
The beluga had a ruptured intestine probably related to parasites, which were found in the whale’s abdomen, lungs and kidneys, Burek said. The parasites likely led to an entanglement within a section of the intestines, leading it to rupture. “Very unusual,” Burek said. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Biologists believe the 18- to 20-foot whale may be sick or injured. It’s unclear if it will be able to swim out during high tide.
Sea ice in the Chukchi Sea disappeared far earlier than normal this spring as a result of exceptionally warm ocean temperatures.
Warm water threatens marine habitats off the coast of BC
State officials are now blaming toxoplasmosis, a parasite carried in cat feces, for the deaths of three critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals on Oahu.
An Alaska scientist challenges the so-called unexplained lesions and deaths observed among Arctic sea life in 2011 and 2012.
Biologists are trying to determine what's ailing ringed seals that live off Alaska's Arctic coast. Scores of seals stranded on beaches this summer appeared to have skin lesions, and dozens have died.
Kachemak Bay has witnessed massive die-offs of sea stars, murres and razor clams. Whats going on?
The notoriously difficult-to-study Pacific walrus population decreased by about half between 1981 and 1999, likely due to hunting and changes to sea-ice habitat, according to a new USGS study that is considered the most up-to-date and comprehensive so far. The Pacific walrus is being considered for Endangered Species Act protections.
Pacific walruses are beaching on Northwest Alaska shores, peppered with bleeding skin legions that have been observed on dying ringed seals in Arctic Alaska, according to federal biologists.
Not a single humpback whale was seen in the Salish Sea for nearly a hundred years
Nunavut is not prepared to deal with the impacts of climate change and doesn't have a plan to deal with them, according to the latest report by Canada's auditor general.
They say the animal is currently near a lock at Vernon, about 70km (43 miles) north-west of Paris.Experts are puzzled as to why the animal has strayed so far south from its natural habitat.
Spirit camp participants and residents along the Yukon River were shocked to see a lone beluga whale on the Yukon River in early August.
Officials are encouraging the public to be safe, report polar bears in the area and never approach the animals, which can be “dangerous and unpredictable.”
With relatively calm summer weather, an Utqiagvik crew landed at least 11 beluga whales this season, Wainwright was lucky to caught 50, and Kotzebue Sound saw the second-highest harvest in more than a decade, according to local hunters.
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