10 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 74 



Fig. 5. Walruses sighted in February (symbols as in Fig. 4). 



the west and south of the island. Occasionally, some also remained along the 

 northeastern side of the island throughout the winter. The northernmost records 

 in this month are of a few animals near East Cape, Chukotka (Belopol'skii 1939) 

 and off Cape Lisburne, Alaska, in the Chukchi Sea (J. Lentfer, personal com- 

 munication). The southernmost records are at Port Moller, Alaska Peninsula, 

 and near the Pribilof Islands (J. J. Burns, J. E. Hemming, R. A. Ryder, personal 

 communication). 



March (Fig. 6) 



The pack ice ordinarily attains its maximum extent in the eastern Bering Sea in 

 March; in the west, the maximum is reached in April. Surface winds diminish 

 somewhat during this period, and air temperatures moderate slightly; however, 

 winter conditions still prevail. 



As a result mainly of two extensive aerial surveys in 1960 and 1961 (K. W. 

 Kenyon 1960a and personal communication) and two less extensive shipboard 

 surveys in 1972 and 1976 (F. H. Fay, unpublished data), the number of walrus 

 sightings in March is substantially greater than for the previous two months and 

 probably reflects the winter distribution reasonably well. In general, the 

 population appears to be divided into two major concentrations, widely 

 separated by areas in which few or no animals were sighted. The largest of the 

 concentrations is to the west and south of St. Lawrence Island; the smaller is in 

 northern Bristol and Kuskokwim bays and near the Pribilof Islands. 



