Cook Inletkeeper - Watershed Watch

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Cook Inletkeeper Watershed Watch

The Cook Inlet Beluga Whale

Take Action Now to Protect this Cook Inlet Icon

ACTION ALERT!

Attend the Public Meetings &

Submit Written Comments to Protect the

COOK INLET

BELUGA WHALE!

Update: The National Marine Fisheries Service has extended the public comment period on Endangered Species Act listing for the Cook Inlet beluga whale until August 3, 2007. There will also be two public hearings:

Homer: July 19, 2007, 6:00-9:00 PM, Maritime Refuge, Island and Oceans, 95 Sterling Highway #1, Homer, AK

Anchorage: July 20, 2007, 3:30-6:30 p.m., Loussac Public Library, Wilda Marston Room, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage, AK.

Written comments must be received by August 3, 2007.

See Federal Register Notice on Hearing Dates & Comment Extension

THE PROBLEM: The Cook Inlet beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population whose numbers have plummeted over 50% in the past decade. The beluga’s plight is so dire the National Marine Fisheries Service recently proposed an “endangered” listing for the whale under the Endangered Species Act. While subsistence hunting has been blamed as a primary cause for the whale’s decline, tight controls on subsistence harvests have not resulted in the population rebound agency scientists predicted. Sewage discharges, oil and gas wastes, polluted run-off, shipping traffic, noise, and habitat loss are but a few of the possible issues affecting beluga recovery. In 2006, the experts at the World Conservation Union (IUCN) put the Cook Inlet beluga on the “red list” for critically endangered species. Current surveys suggest only 250-350 whales remain in Cook Inlet (from historical highs around 1300 animals). One major stranding event or oil spill could spell the end for this Cook Inlet icon. Large corporations and local politicians are fighting the listing process, so it’s up to YOU to ensure our kids can enjoy the Cook Inlet belugas for years to come.

THE SOLUTION: TAKE ACTION! The National Marine Fisheries is taking comments until June 19 on whether to list the whale as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. You can read NMFS’s beluga listing proposal: http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/prules/72fr19854.pdf

Take 10 minutes NOW to tell NMFS why the Cook Inlet Beluga whale is important to YOU, and why the enhanced protections of the ESA are needed to ensure the whale’s survival:

The beluga whale sits high in the food chain, and it’s the “canary in the coal mine” for determining the health of the Cook Inlet ecosystem. Alaska is a special place, and if we cannot protect the beluga whale from extinction in Anchorage’s backyard, what can we protect?
While local politicians are spending tax payer dollars to fight the beluga listing, they have refused to fund the basic research over the years needed to understand the beluga and its habitat.
NMFS surveys and science show this isolated stock does not breed with the other four beluga stocks in Alaska, and it is a “discrete population segment” requiring ESA protections.
Despite the emotional rhetoric espoused by listing opponents, various studies by MIT and other researchers show the ESA does not curtail responsible economic development.
Scare tactics to suggest commercial and other fishing in Cook Inlet will be harmed by listing the beluga are groundless because studies show few conflicts between whales and fishing activities.
Despite sharp controls on Native subsistence harvests, the beluga population has failed to rebound as predicted, and pollution, noise and habitat loss remain threats to the whale.
NMFS historically has been under-funded for its beluga whale work, and it needs adequate funding for the consultations and critical habitat designation required by the ESA.

Comments can be sent by 5:00 PM, June 19 to:

Mail: Kaja Brix, NMFS, P. O Box 21668, Juneau, AK 99802

Email: CIB-ESAEndangered@noaa.gov. Fax: (907) 586–7012

For more information, see:

April 19 Conservation Group Press Release

Proposed Beluga Whale Endangered Rule

NMFS Press Release

BACKGROUND: The Cook Inlet beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population whose numbers have plummeted over 50% in the past decade. Today, federal agency scientists estimate fewer than 280 belugas remain in Cook Inlet – down from historical estimates of 1300. The whale’s plight is so dire the World Conservation Union in April 2006 added the Cook Inlet beluga to its “Red List, ” classifying it as “critically endangered.” There is only one category after critically endangered: “extinct.” The Cook Inlet beluga is already listed as “threatened” under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Now, in light of continuing population declines, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has opened pubic comment on a “status review,” to determine whether the Cook Inlet beluga should be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Scientists at the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission – the federal agency mandated by Congress to oversee NMFS and to protect the nation’s marine mammal resources – have repeatedly called on NMFS to list the beluga under the ESA. Such a listing will require NMFS to designate and protect critical habitat for the beluga, and offers the best hope this Cook Inlet icon will endure for generations to come.

Threats to the Cook Inlet beluga whale: Cook Inlet is the most populated and fastest growing watershed in Alaska. The state’s largest city – Anchorage – lies adjacent to some of the most important beluga habitat in the region. Polluted run-off from rain and snowmelt, combined with large sewage discharges, pour directly into prime beluga feeding, mating and birthing habitats. Cook Inlet is also the birthplace of commercial oil and gas development in Alaska, and underwater seismic blasting, toxic dumping from offshore platforms, and regular leaks and spills threaten the whales and their habitat. The U.S. Army also retains a presence in Cook Inlet, and its bombing range at Eagle River Flats on Fort Richardson regularly showers toxic and other pollutants into areas that support belugas and their prey. Cook Inlet is also a major shipping hub and fishing center, and ship traffic, noise, port dredging and prey disturbance may also be affecting belugas.

In addition to existing development, a series of proposals raises serious concerns about the future for beluga whales in Cook Inlet. For example, the Port of Anchorage plans to fill over 135 acres of beluga habitat as part of a major expansion project, and proposed dredging associated with the expansion will impacts hundreds of additional acres. Another proposed addition to the Port is the Department of Homeland Security’s “Integrated Anti-Swimmer Device” – a complex sonar array designed to thwart waterborne attacks on the Port. Sonar is well-known to cause problems with whale “echolocation,” but information on IAS impacts to belugas has not yet been determined. Furthermore, the Chuitna Coal Project, lying southwest of Anchorage, is slated to begin permitting this summer, and if developed, would add another major industrial port in an area important to belugas. Finally, plans continue to progress for the Knik Arm Crossing, a new bridge and fill project that would bisect some of the most important beluga habitat in the entire Inlet, just outside of Anchorage.

Aside from aerial surveys and limited tissue sampling, there has been no concerted effort to understand even the most basic behaviors of the Cook Inlet beluga, let alone any serious attempts to understand the individual and cumulative effects from industrial activities. Cook Inlet boasts the highest tidal range in the United States, and one or more mass strandings on the region’s shifting shoals could be enough to push the beluga over the brink to extinction.

Background on the Cook Inlet beluga whale: Alaska Native traditional knowledge tells of beluga subsistence hunts for the past several hundred years in Cook Inlet, and early homesteaders are known to have hunted for food, sport and whale bones. In the early-to-mid 1990’s, unregulated subsistence hunting (permitted for Native Alaskans under federal and international law) led to high mortality within the Cook Inlet beluga stock. In 1999, Congress passed legislation making it illegal for anyone to “take” a Cook Inlet beluga whale unless such harvest occurred under a cooperative management agreement between Native Alaska hunters and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Subsequent co-management agreements sharply curtailed subsistence hunting, and NMFS biologists predicted the Cook Inlet beluga population would rebound to sustainable levels. In 2000, NMFS refused to list the whale under the Endangered Species Act, and instead chose the less rigorous protections afforded by a “depleted” listing under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Five years after the MMPA listing – in March 2005 - NMFS finally published the draft Conservation Plan required by the MMPA, and as of May 2006, the final plan had yet to be released. In April 2006, with the latest surveys estimating only 278 whales remaining, NMFS opened public comment on a status review, to determine whether the Cook Inlet beluga whale should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

INLETKEEPER’S SOLUTIONS

Inletkeeper is pressing state and federal resource managers to designate critical habitat for the beluga whale under the Endangered Species Act, so areas where whales feed, mate and birth can be protected. In the meantime, Inletkeeper is educating the public and the media about the plight of this Cook Inlet icon, and challenging short sighted proposals that pollute or destroy important beluga habitat. Contact Inletkeeper for more information.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS (links open in new window)

SaveTheBeluga.com

National Marine Fisheries Service: Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Overview

National Marine Mammal Laboratory Satellite Tracking Data

Alaska Fisheries Science Center