Abstract
The Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) is an Arctic endemic species that is under increasing threat due to declines in their sea ice habitats. Walruses rely directly (e.g., resting, giving birth) and indirectly (e.g., tight coupling between sympagic and benthic productivity) on sea ice, and are particularly sensitive to disturbance by increasing anthropogenic activities (e.g., shipping) that are taking place concomitant with sea ice declines throughout their Arctic range. Management and conservation of Atlantic walrus require monitoring of their distribution and assessments of regional and range-wide abundance trends. Atlantic walrus population assessments are typically based on counts of walruses hauled out at terrestrial sites during aerial or boat-based surveys, and increasingly, using satellite imagery. We compiled a comprehensive, distribution-wide dataset of all known Atlantic walrus terrestrial haul-out sites from relevant national datasets to promote accessibility and consistency of use among multiple users, including Indigenous groups, scientific researchers, and resource managers.
Data availability
The dataset26 is available on the Arctic Biodiversity Data Service of CAFF, accessible at the following link: https://geo.abds.is/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/fcdc5e58-3318-4a02-a484-8ecb7cfb66e2.
Code availability
The dataset was compiled manually from existing national or other jurisdictional datasets and complemented with published work mentioning terrestrial haul-out sites, without the use of coding.
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Acknowledgements
We are thankful to WWF (UK, Canada and Global Arctic Programme), and players of People’s Postcode Lottery, who provided funding. This study represents a contribution to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB), the Ecosystems component of the Wildlife from Space Project at the British Antarctic Survey Polar Science for Planet Earth programme (which is funded by the Natural Environment Research programme). Norwegian data collection is supported by the Norwegian Polar Institute. We thank Rod Downie, Mette Frost, and Brandon Laforest who facilitated access to some of the datasets. We are grateful for the support from the Arctic Council working group on Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna to host the dataset on their Arctic Biodiversity Data Service, with special thanks to Hólmgrímur Helgason and Courtney Price. We thank the editor and reviewers for their time and their valuable feedback, which helped improve this manuscript.
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Conceptualisation: H.C.C., J.W.H., P.T.F.; Data compilation: H.C.C.; Data contribution: C.J.D.M., E.G., M.G., M.P.H.J., J.W.H., K.M.K., M.L., C.L., B.S., P.T.F.; Writing-original draft: H.C.C., C.J.D.M.; Writing-review and editing: H.C.C., C.J.D.M., E.G., M.G., M.P.H.J., J.W.H., K.M.K., M.L., C.L., B.S., A.V.P., P.T.F.
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Cubaynes, H.C., Matthews, C.J.D., Garde, E. et al. A distribution-wide dataset of Atlantic walrus terrestrial haul-out sites.
Sci Data (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07210-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07210-6
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