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Link: Alaska Public Radio Network For only the second time in memory -- the first was two years ago -- thousands of walruses are coming ashore on Alaska's Arctic coast. Chukchi Sea ice has retreated far to the north, beyond the productive waters of the continental shelf where the animals usually forage for food. Experts fear the walruses are expending much more energy foraging from shore -- traveling farther than they would if they could haul out on sea ice over food beds. On Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service moved Pacific walruses one step forward in the process of endangered-species listing.