Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 22:16
Forums
Bering Ecosystem Change

We were discussing your trip today, and Matt Berman gave us lots of answers to our questions, but then he confessed he had no idea really... so... we thought we'd ask the experts!!!

1) How deep can Walruses dive?

2) How deep is the Bering Sea on average?

3) How deep is it where you are now?

4) How much deeper is the Beaufort?

5) Do walruses ever have trouble getting to the bottom of the ocean?

6) Are there different issues around climate change and walruses up in the Beaufort from out in the Bering or Chukchi seas?

 

Thanks!

 

--Diane, Lexi, Roz, Nancy (and Matt, even if he won't admit it)

Wed, 03/19/2008 - 10:53

Craig Kasemodel

Hi!
 
Walruses can dive up to 90 meters. Our sampling area (I will post a map on the journal section) has been averaging 70 meters and we are currently at 72 meters. The majority of the Bering Sea shelf is less than 100 meters deep. The Beaufort Sea has a much smaller shelf, less than 50 miles, and the depths can reach up to 3000 meters. Walruses have trouble when the ice pack retreats beyond the shelf and they are unable to dive out in the deeper basin of the Chukchi Sea. In Alaska, walruses typically occur seasonally from Bristol Bay to Point Barrow. Their movements are related to the seasonal advances and retreat of the sea ice. They migrate northward through the Bering Strait up to the Chukchi Sea during the spring, summer in the Chukchi Sea, migrate southward to the Bering Sea in the fall to their wintering range centering on St Lawrence Island. The 12,000-16,000 walrus in summering in Bristol Bay (Round Island) are bulls and migrate to St. Lawrence to join the herd for winter and spring before migrating back south.