I was the Walrus

adn.com | alaska : Walruses lured to their deaths

This story reminds me of Douglas Adams' falling whale. Turns out some walruses in Alaska have a similar experience:

Federal wildlife biologists have erected a 250-foot-long fence to stop walruses from accidentally plummeting off cliffs to their death on a Bristol Bay beach....

No one is sure why the Cape Peirce walruses fall.

Abraham said the shellfish-loving animals have a strong sense of smell that may lead them over the seaside cliff. They don't see well, which may not help, he added.

"(They) follow their nose -- that's my theory," he said.

It's not suicide, said MacDonald, who's watched videotapes of the falling walruses recorded during the 1990s.

Once the first go over, others follow, many dropping headfirst in a free fall to the ground, he said.

"They land on the rocks below, crush their skull, and end of story," he said.

But others do a 180 while sliding off the top, desperately try to stop as if they've made a mistake. It doesn't work, he said.