Photos: Walrus mass haul out

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Close-up of a 1,500 walrus haulout on a barrier island near Pt. Lay on September 23, 2014.

With floating ice sparse in the Chukchi Sea, an estimated 35,000 walruses were found crowded onto a beach near the Northwest Alaska village of Point Lay, according to federal biologists.

The congregation of walruses, photographed Saturday by biologists flying over the area in a plane contracted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is one of the biggest onshore gatherings of the animals documented in Northwest Alaska, said one walrus expert.

Read more: Biologists spot huge gathering of walruses on beach near Point Lay