Thousands of Pacific walrus gather on shore near Point Lay, Alaska, in this aerial images made Sept. 23, 2014, during a NOAA survey of the Chukchi Sea. The arctic surveys serve to document the distribution and relative abundance of bowhead, gray, right, and fin whales, belugas, and other marine mammals in areas of potential oil and natural gas exploration, development, and production activities in the Alaskan Beaufort and northeastern Chukchi Seas. Pacific walrus are dependent on sea ice where they rest and dive to the bottom of the continental shelf for food. Climate change induced warming has caused the sea ice to retreat into deep areas of the Arctic Ocean where the walrus cannot dive for food, forcing them ashore where there is increased mortality from stampedes in the herd.