A family of walruses with a priceless child.
Even 25 years ago, thousands of walrus rookeries could be seen on the coast of Kamchatka and nearby islands. At that time, the Marine Mammal Protection Service was working, the head of which was Andrey Semenov. He was not an office supervisor, but as a field zoologist he worked for months on rookeries, studying walruses, sea lions, seals…
The mess of the 90s destroyed the animal protection system in Kamchatka. Andrei Semenov, as a zealous nature conservationist, “left” his job. In the following decades, no systematic accounting of the walrus population in Kamchatka was carried out. Zoologists noted that there were fewer walruses, but no one knew where and how many of them. It was only in 2018, after sailing on a trimaran along the coast of Kamchatka, Andrei Semenov was able to appreciate the drama of the situation: the Kamchatka rookeries were empty.
To begin with, despite their impressive size, walruses are very shy on land. The noise of the engine, the smell of smoke, a man (even one) in full height, suitable for walruses, drive the whole herd into the water in a few minutes. In a panic, large animals maim the weak, trample the cubs. And the walrus only has one baby every three years, the loss of it is an irreparable loss.
Climate warming is another serious factor that has led to the depletion of the walrus food supply. Walruses in Kamchatka have almost disappeared, and there were no laws protecting them. Until recently, permits for hunting shooting were issued. We saw with our own eyes the carcasses of the shot right on the rookery – the holy of holies for walruses – animals with fangs cut out.
And just on the eve of the World Marine Mammal Protection Day, Andrey received a call from his zoologist colleague, Deputy Director for Science of the Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography. Based on our data, his team managed to add the Pacific walrus to the Red Book of the Kamchatka Territory. Now that the walrus has become a protected species, the issuance of hunting licenses in Kamchatka will cease, and rookeries will be under special control.
