This walrus was found by a local fisherman and reported by LEO Network to the US Fish and Wildlife Walrus Hotline. The carcass is thought to be too old for necropsy or sample collection.

"When we looked over the side of the boat, we saw clumps of mussels floating up the whole Tuksuk channel. No one has ever heard of something like this before."

At least 60 ice seals have been found dead across northern and western Alaska this month. As of early this week, reports of dead seals had come in from the Norton Sound region, the Northwest Arctic and the North Slope.

Around 60 ice seals have been reported dead across northern and western Alaska this month. The cause of the strandings and deaths is not known.

"Its face was down in the mud and it was laboring to breathe. Its body condition was wasted and we could see its ribs."

18 dead seals were found along the coast, and are like part of a larger mortality event that includes 60 seals total. The average number of dead ice seals normally found in a year is 18.

Near Nome, reports of seal pups and walrus calves hauled out on beaches are piling up at an unprecedented rate.

Since January 1, 2019, elevated gray whale strandings have occurred along the west coast of North America from Mexico through Alaska. This event has been declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME).

In a paper published Wednesday, researchers theorize the die-off is at least partially attributable to the changing climate.

Village wildlife observers worry that the unusual warmth of oceans off Alaska is causing problems throughout the ecosystem.