Probably, you have to read the headline twice to believe it: yes, people were grunting at walrusses, not the other way around. This remarkable event is said to have happened on July 16 at Torellneset in Hinlopen Strait during a passenger landing from MS Expedition.
A guest wrote a letter later to Sysselmannen and Svalbardposten, because 2 “wildlife specialists” from the ship disturbed walrusses to achieve “good” photographs. The 2 “specialists” are said to have approached walrusses in shallow water to distances of about 2 metres and then to have “barked” and “grunted”, assumably to make the walrusses move for “better” photographs. Later, other staff justified this behavious by saying the “specialists” knew what they were doing.
According to the Svalbard environmental act, it is forbidden to “hunt, catch, harm or kill” animals. The Sysselmannen will investigate if the incident is a breach of legal regulations. In any case, an active approach of less than 30 metres distance is not allowed according to AECO-regulations. AECO is an organisation of ship-based arctic tour operators with, amongst others, the purpose of self-regulation. To achieve this, AECO has created guidelines which are often stricter than legal requirements. These guidelines are binding for members such as the operator of the MS Expedition, who has announced internal investigations and confirmed a general dedication to high environmental standards. AECO is now considering to discuss the incident on their annual member meeting.
In any case, an approach to about 2 metres distance to walrusses for touristic purposes is definitely not acceptable. It is also completely unnecessary: walrusses, usually rather lazy and inactive on shore, are often lively and curious in the water. It is not too unusual that curious walrusses themselves approach people who are standing on land near the waterline to close distances – without any disturbance of wildlife by barking or grunting or whatever.
It is usually easy to see on photographs if animals have been disturbed. Such photos are today hardly accepted anymore by professional publishers.
Walrusses can be very curious when swimming: these animals decided freely to approach a group of tourists, who were not moving, without any disturbance of anyone or anything. An active approach of tourists to such close distance is neither allowed nor acceptable.