I Am the Walrus

A snapshot from the frontiers of wildlife conservation

June 30, 2021

Photo by Evgenia Arbugaeva

Each summer, tens of thousands of walruses converge on the Arctic beaches of Chukotka, the easternmost province of Russia. Because of global warming and receding ice, the marine mammals are congregating earlier and in greater numbers—sometimes in such mass that they put one another at risk. Here, a walrus hauls itself past the hut of a research biologist.

This article appeared in the Summer quarterly edition with the headline "I Am the Walrus."