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As the Chukchi Sea experiences longer periods without ice and the female and juvenile walruses spend more time resting on land, it makes them vulnerable to human and predator activity.

In a study that has provided clues about how polar bear disease could be linked to ice loss, scientists examined blood samples from bears in the Chukchi Sea - between Alaska and Russia.

Warm late-spring conditions in the Chukchi Sea, northwest of Alaska, drew salmon into the Arctic.

The basin is in the DeLong Mountains foothills along the Kukpowruk River, about 60 miles south of Point Lay and 20 miles inland from the Chukchi Sea.

Some are also spending winter farther north in the Chukchi Sea, where commercial traffic in particular has been increasing.