Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Stephanie Sell, now based in Juneau, will talk about her time as Sanctuary Manager on Round Island, part of Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary in Bristol Bay at the next Wildlife Wednesday, presented by the Alaska Wildlife Alliance.
“You learn so much about walrus just by watching them,” Sell told the Empire at the end of September. Some of her jobs in her four seasons — about 16 months — at the sanctuary were daily counts of walrus and sea lions, looking out for different birds and observing the flora.
Round Island, the main haul-out in the sanctuary, is “kind of like a big bachelor pad,” she said. Females and calves follow the ice north, and the males stay behind.
“They’re very gregarious,” she said. “I think they’re amazing creatures, and they hold a special place in my heart, for sure.”
Wildlife Wednesdays, which take place the first Wednesday of the month in the fall and winter, are now at the new Mendenhall Valley Public Library. The talk will run from from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4 and is free and open to the public, with refreshments served. Go to www.akwildlife.org for more information.
