{"id":238062,"date":"2023-01-06T10:48:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T09:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=238062"},"modified":"2023-01-06T10:48:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T09:48:26","slug":"svalbard-walrus-thrive-in-the-face-of-sea-ice-decline-mocking-predictions-of-future-catastrophe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=238062","title":{"rendered":"Svalbard walrus thrive in the face of sea ice decline, mocking predictions of future catastrophe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From polarbearscience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0extended visit<\/a>\u00a0of an\u00a0immature male walrus to the UK<\/a>\u00a0last month (dubbed\u00a0\u2018Thor\u2019<\/a>, presumably from Svalbard, Norway) has precipitated the tired and vacuous \u2018victim of climate change\u2019<\/a>\u00a0cries from the peanut gallery, including\u00a0Bob Ward of the Grantham Institute<\/a>. The facts, however, put all that to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I wrote about Ward in my book, Sir David Attenborough and the Walrus Deception<\/a><\/em>, because he has a habit of tenaciously filing official complaints<\/a> when anyone says or writes anything sensible<\/a> that just happens to challenge the reigning narrative that climate change is ruining everything and will drive virtually every beloved species to extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as usual, Ward is wrong again, this time about Atlantic walrus, who have been busily rebuilding their once-decimated populations brought to near-extinction levels by human slaughter over 350 years. Legal protections against hunting enacted by Norway in 1952 have allowed the species to recover, albeit slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s because in some areas (like Svalbard)\u00a0very few females were left<\/a>\u00a0to populate the old hauling ground<\/em>s (NPI 2022), which markedly reduced the rate of recovery until very recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atlantic walrus status<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IUCN Red List classified the Atlantic walrus as \u2018near threatened\u2019<\/a> in 2016: an important step below \u2018vulnerable\u2019 which takes into account current healthy population numbers. This was despite concerns the subspecies could possibly face a population decline of >10% within three generations due to sea ice loss (much less than the Pacific walrus suffered due to food deprivation back in the 1980s (Fay et al. 1989; Lowry 1985), before everything could be blamed on lack of sea ice).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US Fish and Wildlife Service determined in October 2017 that the Pacific walrus is not being harmed by climate change<\/a> and is not likely to be harmed within the foreseeable future (MacCracken et al. 2017; USFWS 2017). The IUCN Red List (2015) assessed the Pacific walrus as \u2018data deficient<\/a>\u2018 (Lowry 2015). Despite these findings, the IUCN listed the walrus species (i.e. both subspecies together), as \u2018vulnerable\u2019<\/a> (Lowry 2016), apparently based on modelled projections of future declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Svalbard, however, Atlantic walrus numbers have been steadily rising as summer sea ice has been falling. The Norwegian MOSJ website has conveniently graphed this trajectory, copied below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The numbers on the graph start with two baseline estimated numbers provided in 1980 and 1993 (1980=100 and 1993=741), and conclude with population counts from aerial surveys done in 2006, 2012, and 2018 (2006=2629; 2012=3886; 2018=5503).That\u2019s 109% between 2006 and 2018, and 42% between 2012 and 2018: impressive increases for any species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the 2016 North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) Report on Atlantic walrus (updated in 2021) stated that the tendency of animals to pile on top of each other at haulouts makes it hard to see every individual, even if you are counting them in a photograph. Large numbers of animals in the water are similarly difficult to count, especially if they are close together and actively diving and swimming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a consequence, officials determined that all recent counts of Atlantic walrus were probably an underestimate of the true population abundance. This means the 2018 estimate based on an aerial survey was likely an underestimate, which means it\u2019s highly likely (given other evidence) that numbers have continued to climb since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sea ice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arctic sea ice since 1979 has declined dramatically in summer\u2013and very modestly in winter<\/a>\u2013but from 2007 to 2019, that declining pattern stalled. That\u2019s not my opinion but the conclusion of Walt Meier of the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), who showed the flat trend in a graph published in September 2019<\/a>. The same pattern continues to 2022<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, overall sea ice coverage is of little consequence to the issue of Atlantic walrus health and survival around Svalbard: what we need to know is what the ice has been doing in the Barents Sea, especially over the last 15 years or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data on Barents Sea ice since 2006 has been published by Regehr et al. (2016) but only up to 2015. It shows the greatest decline of all Arctic regions: a loss of 4.11 days per year. It appears that this trend may have continued to 2022 (Frey et al. 2022).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In other words, the Svalbard population of Atlantic walrus increased 109% between 2006 and 2018, even as summer sea ice declined markedly in the Barents Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[In Franz Joseph Land<\/a>, in the eastern half of the Barents Sea, walrus numbers in 2017 were estimated to be approaching \u201cpre-hunting levels\u201d<\/a> (9,000-11,000)].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As did Matt Ridley<\/a>, I call that walrus thriving in the face of sea ice loss. It makes a mockery of model predictions of future calamity based on summer sea ice loss because it is now clear that the less summer sea ice, the more food for walrus and other species (see below). Winter and early spring ice, on the other hand, is\u00a0declining only modestly<\/a>\u00a0and that\u2019s when walrus really\u00a0need<\/em>\u00a0it to mate and give birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primary Productivity Increases<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report by Frey and colleagues<\/a> this year (Frey et al. 2022) confirms that primary productivity\u2013which generates more food for walrus<\/a>\u2013has continued to increase due to less sea ice coverage in summer since 2003, especially in the Barents Sea<\/em> (Crockford 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the graphic from the report copied below, note the marked overall increase in primary productivity in the Barents Sea compared to other regions (left column, 3rd from the top):\u00a0it has seen the greatest increase in primary productivity, including a huge spike in 2017<\/em>\u00a0(the year before the last walrus survey).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The increased amount of food available to all species (including walrus) means that the carrying capacity of the Barents marine ecosystem has also increased since 2003\u2013all as a consequence of dramatically less summer sea ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wandering juveniles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all of the above, we shouldn\u2019t forget the individual that started this discussion: a lone male estimated to be 3-5 years of age<\/a> that visited the UK in December. In other words, an immature animal a decade away from what is considered breeding age for males (about 15 years). Mature walrus congregate on the sea ice to mate and give birth in the winter\/early spring (January-April); immature animals and seniors past breeding age do not participate in this activity and are free to wander well away from the pack ice (Freitas et al. 2009; NAMMCO 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanderer \u2018Thor\u2019, as long as he stuck to shallow coastal regions where he could feed easily (as he apparently did), was not in any danger from climate change on his UK sojourn, which had the added advantage of being well out of range of predatory polar bears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockford, S.J. 2021.<\/strong> The State of the Polar Bear Report 2020<\/em>. Global Warming Policy Foundation Report 48, London. PDF here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crockford, S.J. 2022.<\/strong> Sir David Attenborough and the Walrus Deception<\/em>. Amazon KDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fay, F.H., Kelly, B.P. and Sease, J.L. 1989.<\/strong> Managing the exploitation of Pacific walruses: a tradegy of delayed response and poor communication. Marine Mammal Science<\/em> 5<\/strong>:1-16. PDF HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freitas, C., Kovacs, K.M., Ims, R.A. et al. 2009. <\/strong>Deep into the ice: overwintering and habitat selection in Atlantic walruses. Marine Ecology Progress Series<\/em> 375:247-261.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frey, K.E., Comiso, J.C., Cooper, L.W., Garcia-Eidell, C., Grebmeier, J.M. and Stock, L.V. 2022.<\/strong> Arctic Ocean primiary productivity: the response of marine algae to climate warming and sea ice decline. 2022 Arctic Report Card.<\/em> NOAA.DOI: 10.25923\/0je1-te61<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kovacs, K.M. 2016. <\/strong>Odobenus rosmarus ssp. rosmarus<\/em>. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species 2016: e.T15108A66992323. http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.2305\/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T15108A66992323.en<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowry, L. 1985.<\/strong> \u201cPacific Walrus \u2013 Boom or Bust?\u201d Alaska Fish & Game Magazine July\/August: 2-5. pdf<\/em> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowry, L. 2015.<\/strong> Odobenus rosmarus <\/em>ssp. divergens<\/em>. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species<\/em> 2015: e.T61963499A45228901. https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.2305\/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T61963499A45228901.en<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowry, L. 2016. <\/strong>Odobenus rosmarus<\/em>. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species<\/em> 2016: e.T15106A45228501.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacCracken, J.G., Beatty, W.S., Garlich-Miller, J.L., Kissling, M.L and Snyder, J.A. 2017.<\/strong> Final Species Status Assessment for the Pacific Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens<\/em>), May 2017 (Version 1.0). US Fish & Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK. Pdf here<\/a> (8.6 mb).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMMCO. 2021<\/strong>. Atlantic walrus. North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission Report for 2016<\/em>, updated January 2021. Tromso, Norway. https:\/\/nammco.no\/topics\/atlantic-walrus\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NPI<\/strong> (Norwegian Polar Institute). 2022. <\/strong>Walrus population in Svalbard. Environmental Monitoring of Svalbard and Jan Mayen<\/em> (MOSJ). http:\/\/www.mosj.no\/en\/fauna\/marine\/walrus-population.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regehr, E.V., Laidre, K.L, Ak\u00e7akaya, H.R., Amstrup, S.C., Atwood, T.C., Lunn, N.J., et al. 2016.<\/strong> Conservation status of polar bears (Ursus maritimus<\/em>) in relation to projected sea-ice declines. Biology Letters<\/em> 12: 20160556. http:\/\/rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org\/content\/12\/12\/20160556<\/a>USFWS 2017.<\/strong>\u201cEndangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Findings on Petitions to List 25 Species as Endangered or Threatened Species\u201d<\/em><\/a> [pdf] 4 October <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And as usual, Ward is wrong again, this time about Atlantic walrus, who have been busily rebuilding their once-decimated populations brought to near-extinction levels by human slaughter over 350 years. Legal protections against hunting enacted by Norway in 1952 have allowed the species to recover, albeit slowly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":238072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-238062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-207.png?fit=2560%2C1600&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-ZVI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":424553,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424553","url_meta":{"origin":238062,"position":0},"title":"Polar Bear Numbers Rising and Health Improving in Areas with the Most Rapid Sea Ice Decline","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The study of a scientific paper titled \"Body condition among Svalbard Polar bears Ursus maritimus during a period of rapid loss of sea ice,\" published in Scientific Reports on January 29, 2026 explains Svalbard bears are resilient due to local factors: increased abundance of alternative prey like harbour seals, reindeer,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Barents Sea (BS)\"","block_context":{"text":"Barents Sea (BS)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=barents-sea-bs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OIG4-7.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OIG4-7.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OIG4-7.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OIG4-7.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":254176,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254176","url_meta":{"origin":238062,"position":1},"title":"Earth Day sea ice habitat during critical spring season for Arctic seals, polar bears, and walrus","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the most important time of year for Arctic marine mammals that spend time above the ice: birthing,\u00a0breeding, and\u00a0feeding. And there is plenty of the right kind of ice available for those activities this year, as there was\u00a0two years ago\u00a0at the same time.","rel":"","context":"In \"Barents Sea ice\"","block_context":{"text":"Barents Sea ice","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=barents-sea-ice"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Polar-bears.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Polar-bears.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Polar-bears.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Polar-bears.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Polar-bears.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":423920,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=423920","url_meta":{"origin":238062,"position":2},"title":"Barents Sea polar bears thriving despite massive loss of sea ice, study\u00a0confirms","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A recently published study lead by Norwegian polar bear specialist Jon Aars found that both male and female polar bears were fatter and healthier after 1995 despite the greatest loss of sea ice of any Arctic region. However, no evidence was provided that a greater consumption of walrus and reindeer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Arctic region\"","block_context":{"text":"Arctic region","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=arctic-region"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPT-Image-29.-Mai-2025-18_18_08.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPT-Image-29.-Mai-2025-18_18_08.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPT-Image-29.-Mai-2025-18_18_08.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ChatGPT-Image-29.-Mai-2025-18_18_08.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":274714,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=274714","url_meta":{"origin":238062,"position":3},"title":"Activists try to reboot Pacific walrus as climate change icons just as numbers reach a new high","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"21\/08\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Activists have again resorted to using\u00a0documentary film\u00a0to promote Pacific walrus haulout deaths as contrived \u201cproof\u201d of gruesome climate change impacts even as evidence emerges that walrus numbers are higher than at any other time since the late 1970s. Oops! Busted by facts yet again!","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-827.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-827.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-827.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-827.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-827.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 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bears","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=barents-sea-bears"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQPX2MEr9YPtb11H765CI7vgNYO0CYcbnDswwMFa-6yW8Igy_L6adc6KJwey6kU3gnlcbkEV9lzcAuDsq66u7rhPhK3262oli6ccoADjcqkgG0GGkGrS-JGYxvH2pH57-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQPX2MEr9YPtb11H765CI7vgNYO0CYcbnDswwMFa-6yW8Igy_L6adc6KJwey6kU3gnlcbkEV9lzcAuDsq66u7rhPhK3262oli6ccoADjcqkgG0GGkGrS-JGYxvH2pH57-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0AQPX2MEr9YPtb11H765CI7vgNYO0CYcbnDswwMFa-6yW8Igy_L6adc6KJwey6kU3gnlcbkEV9lzcAuDsq66u7rhPhK3262oli6ccoADjcqkgG0GGkGrS-JGYxvH2pH57-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, 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