A crowd of walruses were filmed sheltering together on a beach near the abandoned town of Smeerenburg, meaning “Blubber Town”, in northwestern Svalbard.

The pod of about 30 walruses can be seen loafing in close contact with each other on the beach.

Smeerenburg (meaning “Blubber Town”) was on the island of Amsterdamøya (Amsterdam Island) in northwest Svalbard, a Danish/Dutch whaling settlement established in 1619. Smeerenburg was abandoned in about 1660 after the decimation of the Bowhead Whale population made it uneconomic. Smeerenburg now hosts a healthy population of Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), the largest seal-like mammal in the Arctic. Adult male Walruses may weigh up to about 2000 kg (4,400 pounds), and feed mainly on clams although they also take a wide variety of other benthic (bottom-dwelling) marine animals. This pod of about 30 Walruses was loafing in close contact with each other on a sandy Smeerenburg beach. The armed guide is Gary Miller.