U.S. agency investigates deaths of 25 walrus on Alaska coast

SCI-TECH

U.S. agency investigates deaths of 25 walrus on Alaska coast

The Associated Press Published Friday, September 18, 2015 4:10PM EDT

This April 13, 2004 photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a large Pacific bull walrus on ice in the Bering Sea off the west coast of Alaska. (Joel Garlich-Miller/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP)

Text:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A federal agency is investigating the deaths of 25 walrus found on a northwest Alaska beach.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Andrea Medeiros says a cause of death has not been determined for the animals found near Cape Lisburne.

Twelve of the dead animals were young pups, and some were missing their heads and tusks.

The carcasses were photographed by a person who works at an Air Force radar station at the cape, a barren, isolated spot about 370 kilometres northeast of the Bering Strait.

The report came in Wednesday but inclement weather kept agency personnel from reaching the site until Thursday.

Medeiros says investigators do not reach conclusions regarding animals deaths based only on reports from the public.