National Geographic - UK (2022-04)

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THE FIRST RAYS OF SUN

are breaking over the

tundra cliffs, and from

the open sea, walruses

are approaching the

shore below. Their

breath rises in golden

puffs, and they’re chiming: a haunting,

metallic song like a softly ringing bell.

You hear it with your whole body, as

if you’re underwater.

This is Round Island, one of seven

craggy isles in Bristol Bay that make

up Alaska’s Walrus Islands State Game

Sanctuary. For millennia it’s been an

important resting place—known as a

haul-out—for male Pacific walruses,

which gather on its shores by the thou-

sands every summer to recuperate

after mating season. The Indigenous

Yupik people, who have long hunted

walruses sustainably on Round Island,

call it Qayassiq: “place to go in a kayak.”

In the early 1900s, commercial

hunting decimated the walrus popu-

lation. By the time the sanctuary was

created and all hunting banned, in

1960, Round Island was one of North

America’s last Pacific walrus haul-outs.

Despite weighing in at over a ton each,

walruses are quite sensitive to distur-

bance. Boat traffic and loud noises can

cause them to stampede into the water,

sometimes leading to injury or death

for animals in the frenzy. If a site is dis-

turbed frequently enough, the walruses

may abandon it completely.

WHERE THE

WALRUSES SING

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY ACACIA JOHNSON

ON A REMOTE ALASKA ISLAND,

UNFORGETTABLE MELODIES COME

FROM A SURPRISING SOURCE.

Pacific walruses wallow

in the shallows off Round

Island, which is open to

adventurous travelers for

a few months each year.