The population surveys will provide new data to Kelly and Divoky's studies of walrus and guillemots. Results of the 1998 surveys will be combined with past data to provide a clearer picture of the species' numbers and distribution, and at the same time, should add to the growing body of evidence about the impacts of climate change on the Arctic environment. Due to budget cutbacks and the general lack of funding for basic research, this will be the first time in many years that the scientists have been able to conduct such surveys. As the burning of fossil fuels continues unabated and the planet continues to warm, Arctic pack ice is predicted to continue thinning and retreating. This could spell disaster for walrus and guillemot populations as well as other ice- dependent species in the Arctic such as seals, whales and polar bears.
Walruses haul out on ice to rest, molt and bear their young.
As sea ice thins, it is less able to support the weight of a single walrus or group of walruses, resulting in a loss of critical habitat. In addition, walruses feed almost exclusively on mollusks and other invertebrates that live on the sea floor. If sea ice retreats beyond the continental shelf waters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas, the water could be too deep for walruses to dive for food. Changes in Black guillemot colonization and population are already among the first documented biological effects of climate change in the western Arctic. Black guillemots breed in cavity nests on the ground, and require a minimum of 80 snow- free days for laying eggs, hatching their young and for the fledglings to leave the nest.