Beluga Whale

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 375 belugas remain in Cook Inlet – down from historical estimates of 1300.

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 375 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. Furthermore, the Chuitna Coal Project, lying southwest of Anchorage, is moving toward permitting, 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 pressed federal resource managers to designate critical habitat for the beluga whale under the Endangered Species Act, so areas where whales feed, mate and birth are protected. Now, Inletkeeper is participating on a stakeholder panel as part of a recovery team focused on devising a plan to help the beluga population rebound. Contact Inletkeeper for more information.