NUUK, GREENLAND – In a stunning and sobering discovery, an international team of scientists has confirmed the largest walrus haul-out ever recorded, with an estimated 60,000 individuals congregating on a remote shoreline of Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The unprecedented gathering, first detected by satellite imagery in late June 2025 and verified by aerial drone surveys earlier this month, is being hailed as both a breathtaking natural spectacle and a grave indicator of the accelerating impacts of climate change on the Arctic ecosystem.
The sheer scale of the haul-out—a term for when walruses leave the water to rest on land or ice—shatters previous records and has ignited urgent discussions among conservationists about the future of the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). While such gatherings are a natural behavior, their increasing size and unusual locations are directly linked to the dramatic loss of summer sea ice, the species’ preferred resting platform.
“Seeing that many animals in one place is awe-inspiring, but it’s a profound sign that something is fundamentally broken in their environment,” stated Dr. David Chen, lead marine mammal researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and head of the verification mission. “This isn’t a celebration; it’s a warning. This is what a record-breaking walrus sighting looks like in an era of climate crisis.”
The Discovery: An Anomaly on a Satellite Screen
The initial finding was made not by a field biologist, but by an algorithm. In mid-June, analysts at the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) were reviewing high-resolution satellite data from the Sentinel-2 constellation when their change-detection software flagged a massive, anomalous dark patch on a stretch of coastline on western Banks Island—an area not historically known for significant walrus activity.
Initially thought to be a geological feature or a data error, closer inspection revealed the unmistakable texture of a densely packed mass of life. The scale was so immense that it defied initial interpretation.
“At first, we couldn’t process the numbers. Standard haul-outs might involve several thousand, or in extreme cases, up to 35,000 animals, like the famous gatherings at Point Lay, Alaska,” explained Dr. Aris Thorne, a remote sensing specialist with AMAP. “Our initial estimates put the number far above that. We immediately knew this was a priority one event that required on-the-ground verification.”
Pacific walruses traditionally spend their summers in the Chukchi Sea, using floating sea ice as platforms to rest between foraging trips for clams, snails, and other benthic organisms on the shallow continental shelf. As the ice recedes northward in the summer, the walruses follow its edge. However, in recent years, the summer ice has disappeared from these shallow feeding areas entirely, forcing the animals to swim much longer distances to find land for rest.
On-the-Ground Confirmation: A Sea of Tusks and Whiskers
Responding to the satellite alert, Dr. Chen’s rapid-response team, funded by a consortium including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), was dispatched to the area in early July. Due to the extreme sensitivity of such a large congregation to disturbance, the team relied on long-range, high-resolution drones equipped with thermal and photographic sensors to conduct a comprehensive survey.
The footage they captured revealed a breathtaking scene: a nearly two-mile stretch of beach blanketed in a writhing, vocalizing mass of walruses, their immense, blubbery bodies packed shoulder-to-shoulder. The final analysis, using AI-powered counting software, arrived at a staggering figure: an estimated 60,000 individuals, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5,000.
“The sound was the first thing our drone microphones picked up—a deafening chorus of grunts, bellows, and roars that carried for miles,” described Dr. Chen in a virtual press conference. “From the air, it didn’t look like individual animals, but a single, sprawling organism. We observed mothers and calves, massive bulls with formidable tusks, and everything in between. It was a city of walruses, assembled out of desperation.”
The location on Banks Island is particularly noteworthy. It is hundreds of miles east of their typical haul-out sites in Alaska and Russia, suggesting a significant and taxing journey for the animals in their search for a resting place near viable feeding grounds.
The Science Behind the Sighting: A Story of Lost Ice
Experts are unequivocal about the cause of this record-breaking walrus sighting: the unprecedented lack of sea ice in the walrus’s traditional summer habitat. Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) for June 2025 showed that the sea ice extent in the Chukchi Sea was at a record low, nearly 40% below the 1981-2010 average for the month.
“Walruses are living barometers of climate change,” said Dr. Lena Petrova, a senior conservation biologist at the World Wildlife Fund. “They cannot rest in deep water; they must haul out. Sea ice is their ideal habitat because it’s mobile, allowing them to drift with their food sources, and it provides a safe platform away from terrestrial predators and disturbances. When that ice vanishes, they have no choice but to swim to the nearest coastline.”
This forced adaptation comes with a host of dangers. The energy expenditure required to swim from distant feeding grounds to these coastal “super-haulouts” can leave animals exhausted and malnourished. Furthermore, the sheer density of the congregations creates a perilous environment.
“These terrestrial haul-outs are ecological traps,” Dr. Petrova continued. “A single disturbance—a passing aircraft, a polar bear, or even a sudden noise—can trigger a mass panic. The ensuing stampede can be catastrophic, leading to the trampling and death of hundreds, especially the smaller calves. We’ve seen this happen in smaller haul-outs; the potential for mortality in a group this large is immense.”
Beyond stampedes, researchers worry about the rapid depletion of local food resources. A population of 60,000 walruses can quickly exhaust the nearby seafloor of bivalves, forcing the animals into longer, more stressful foraging trips and creating a “dead zone” for the local ecosystem.
A View from the North: Indigenous Perspectives
For the Inuvialuit and other Indigenous peoples of the Arctic, this event is another troubling chapter in a story of rapid environmental change they have witnessed firsthand for decades. The walrus, known as aiviq, is a culturally significant animal, and shifts in its behavior are monitored closely.
“Our elders have stories of the walrus, but not like this. Not in these numbers and not in this place,” commented Kaelen Agna, a community leader from the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, whose knowledge contributed to the planning of the non-invasive survey. “The ice is leaving, and the animals are confused. They are looking for a home. We see it with the seals, the polar bears, and now the walrus. This is not just data for us; it is a change to the world we have always known.”
Indigenous communities hold critical traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) that is increasingly being integrated with Western science to understand the full scope of Arctic change. Mr. Agna emphasized the need for co-management and for conservation policies to be guided by those who live on the land.
Implications for Conservation and Future Monitoring
The record-breaking walrus sighting on Banks Island serves as a critical data point for conservation policy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently in a years-long process of re-evaluating whether the Pacific walrus warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act, a decision made more complex by events like this.
This discovery will likely intensify calls to establish protected zones and disturbance-free corridors around these new, unpredictable haul-out sites. This includes rerouting shipping lanes and restricting air traffic during the sensitive summer months.
“We can’t rebuild the sea ice overnight, but we can work to mitigate the immediate threats to these vulnerable populations,” Dr. Chen asserted. “This means using our monitoring technology—satellites and drones—not just to count the animals, but to anticipate where they will go next and to proactively protect those areas.”
As the Arctic continues to warm at a rate nearly four times the global average, such extraordinary wildlife events are expected to become more common. This massive congregation of walruses is a stark visual representation of an ecosystem under duress, a silent gathering whose sheer numbers speak volumes about the precarious state of the Arctic and the urgent need for global action.
