WUWT readers may recall this story from last month:
Climate Alarmists rush to judgment on dead walruses, ignore other possibilities
The issue has been settled. No mention of climate change or global warming.
From a joint press release at http://alaska.fws.gov/index_walrus.pdf (h/t to Robert E. Phelan)
Trampling Likely Cause of Icy Cape Walrus Deaths
Trampling by other walruses was the most likely cause of death of 131 walruses carcasses found on the shore near Icy Cape, Alaska, according to an investigative team. The carcasses, the majority of which were young animals, were discovered along the beach above the high-tide line on Sept. 14 by a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) survey crew in the area.
In response to the discovery, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put together a team comprised of representatives from USFWS, USGS, the Alaska SeaLife Center and the North Slope Borough to determine the extent and cause of the die-off. The National Marine Fisheries Service provided additional financial and technical support, with hunters from Barrow and Wainwright also assisting in the investigation.
An aerial survey of the Chukchi Sea coast conducted by USFWS and NSB confirmed the die-off was localized to the Icy Cape region.
To determine the cause of death, a smaller team mobilized to examine as many carcasses as possible and conduct necropsies – animal autopsies. Veterinarians and biologists from ASLC, USGS and NSB deployed to the area, with hunters from Wainwright and Barrow to ensure their safety. The six-member team examined 71 carcasses and performed nine detailed necropsies.
Because the necropsies showed extensive bruising and all of the carcasses were calves or yearlings, the investigative team concluded that the cause of death was consistent with trampling by other walruses.
Trampling-related injuries and mortalities are not uncommon at coastal walrus haulouts. The potential for injuries and mortalities appears greatest in large herds of animals with a mix of walruses of different age and sex. Young animals appear to be more susceptible to trampling than older animals.
The cause of the disturbance or disturbances leading to the trampling deaths is unknown. Investigators found no evidence of hunting or other recent human activities near the carcasses. Photographs and additional information are available from Bruce Woods at the number above
I blame bush..
Ok so my hunting theory was completely wrong.
See when you are wrong just say it, why attempt to defend your mistake?
If I was a member of the AGW “critical thinker” crowd I could argue they did not check all the corpses, I could claim that the shots from hunters caused the stampede were taken from a grassy knoll or some such nonsense.
FTR The Original claim is not invalidated… the retreat of the sea ice has lead to more and more of the population being on these haulouts and lead directly to the over crowding that contributed to the deaths. I think that summarized their original position.
That settles this story… now back to Climate Change.
the overcrowding is simple to explain. There’s just too many of the darn things.
Are there polar bears in the area? Could they have startled the walruses?
Could have been caused by one of those *nearly extinct* Polar bears looking for a tasty snack??
Silly! They were running from the heat and got trampled.
Or the heat drove them crazy.
Or …
Or …
That reminds me:
The single leading cause of death is conception.
Well, this will live on forever in the yore of AGW !!!!
Just like the polar bear issue.
The impression that it was AGW will be left as there is no impact to the truthful reporting that comes at a later date. The agenda driven first reports breathlessly wins the debate while the facts are trampled by the herd.
Lets see: polar bear populations are increasing, walrus populations seem to be increasing, temperatures are supposedly increasing… OMG, we have to hunt down these enemies of Gaia before they set the earth on fire!
Silly. Global warming caused the trampling tho.
The science was in.
Joe Romm said it was global warming.
It is worse than expected
In your 9.19.09 post on this subject, you quoted Shaye Wolf, spokeswoman for the Center for Biological Diversity, who said, “It provides another indicator that climate change is taking a brutal toll on the Arctic.”
In reviewing their web site, one amazing thing I noticed is that the staff, alone, for the Center for Biological Diversity has 55 people! This rivals staffs of some fairly large businesses! Who would have thought that a group studying “biological diversity” would have enough funds to hire so many people that they require a staff of 55!
Who funds these groups anyway? Where does all the money come from? What product or service do they produce that has enough demand that people pay for it in such amounts to cover all these employees? I’m just asking….
I imagine planes flying over a herd of walri might upset them a bit!
Being perhaps the only one here who as actually written a book on Walruses (AND IT’S WALRUSES NOT WALRI!), I can assure people that they have been congregating by the thousands as long as we have known about them.
Hard to imagine a stampede not causing a few deaths.
BTW the book was just for elementary school kids, nothing high level.
FTR The Original claim is not invalidated… the retreat of the sea ice has lead to more and more of the population being on these haulouts and lead directly to the over crowding that contributed to the deaths.
You are right. That is their claim, and as far as the story goes, nothing refutes it. However, there is more to their claim than just that: walrus populations will be threatened because they are far more vulnerable when they haul out on land instead of ice.
There are two things worth noting here. First, none of the dead walruses had been killed by anything other than trampling; that is hardly the sign of underpopulation. Second, because the presence of walruses is episodic, even if they do haul out on land, they can’t possibly support an increased predator population.
I can almost hear the MSM, if they mention this at all, giving the standard reply.
“Yes , but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t climate change that forced all the walruses onto the beach in the first place”.
Of course the stampeding was due to the lingering effects of the wicked policies of Bushitler and Darth Cheney.
FredC,
Think of the implications of $50 billion being spent on AGW so far.
A staff of 55 people to watch the evils of CO2 is nothing, in terms of $50 billion.
Probably a mass exodus to get away from Nancy Pelosi on an unannounced visit.
Nah! I was right all along.
Vampires!
When Bela Lugosi came out of the cave at midnight it started a stampede. In the dark the walroids couldn’t see each other and some got trampled. The vampires have been driven to higher latitudes by Glombule Warting. QED
(Those superstitious vets daren’t examine the cave, though)
The probably stampeded when a boat full of environmentalists buzzed up to the beach to get pictures of the herd in their natural state before Global Warming destroys their natural habitat.
Shiny
William
Well, the carcasses were not fed upon, so it was not
bears. Maybe a human induced stampede caused by
people doing aerial surveys to check on the health of
the population.
Still doesn’t prove AGW isn’t real.
/sarcasm
Look! You people are down playing the seriousness of global warming! If it really warms up then Greenland and Antarctica might de-ice. Siberia might become livable. Crop yields might go up. Sea lanes across the Arctic Ocean might open up. New mineral deposits might be uncovered. Happiness might increase.
On the other hand, cold has no downside.
Seriously , what is the worse case scenario of global warming vs global cooling?
Jeez, jeez, You constantly surprise me. A walrus book. Whodathunkit?
In another e-mail, Mr. Fischbach indicated that there would be a detailed report on the incident being released, but that it had to undergo an internal review first and he promised to get me a copy when it was available. I get the impression there is more to the walrus than we think…. it would be really cool if we could get Mr. Fischbach to post something about them… maybe get Jeez in his persona of Jeez to moderate a question and answer session.
As for the suggestion that anyone at USGS may have triggered the stampede, however inadvertantly, …. always possible, I suppose, but those guys (and gals) have devoted their lives to the creatures. A little harsh in my book.
We no longer have freak accidents in nature or the environment. Its all because of Climate Change. Forget the truth. Just announce ( insert incident ) and claim Climate is ‘likely responsible’ and regardless of the facts, consider the mission accomplished.
The relentless bombardment from Alarmists in the media shall soon backfire. Its human condition. How can everything be related to Climate Change. When any concept has no option but the concept unto itself, its only natural for the mind to consider an alternative. While I’m sure some Climate Change believers might scoff at a sceptic, the mind will find an alternative to rationalize the preplexity of one ideology responsible for everything. If it wasn’t for the human condition, which is to challenge the boundries of mans limitations, we would still be living in caves and yankin our women by the hair to the lair.
So know this, every time you hear ‘climate is likely responsible’, a mind is questioning the ‘consensus’.