Belugas swimming off Anchorage
Credit: NMML
Here’s a question thousands of people are pondering: Should we declare a dwindling population of beluga whales in Cook Inlet to be endangered under federal law?
Or should we avoid the hassle and expense of the Endangered Species Act and rely instead on the less stringent Marine Mammal Protection Act to help the whales recover?
This genetically isolated population has been declining about 4 percent each year and numbers about 300 — a 70 percent decline since the 1970s. The animals never mingle with other Alaska beluga stocks and could disappear within a century if conditions don’t change. Though overhunting in the early 1990s helped trigger the crisis, no one knows why the whales continue to slip.
- Public comments due June 19
- Email: CIB-ESA-Endangered@noaa.gov
- w/subject “Cook Inlet Beluga Whale PR”
- Full details & contacts in the proposal
With three weeks before the June 19 deadline for comments, almost 28,000 people have sent emails urging NOAA Fisheries to list the whales under the ESA. Most of the messages came from the pre-formatted make-a-comment feature on conservation websites. But another 100 people and groups submitted detailed personal comments, according to NOAA Fishieries spokeswoman Sheela McLean. They haven’t been analyzed yet.
Meanwhile, the agency has started ramping up for what may become the busiest research season in several years.
The annual June aerial count of belugas was cancelled because the aircraft was unavailable, but biologists plan to conduct a calf count if they can get a different plane. Just getting up to find out where belugas are swimming this June — up Turnagain or Knik arms? Down in Trading Bay? — will be another goal.
While the agency generally follows the research list in the beluga conservation plan, each year biologists draw up specific projects, McLean said. “This year more funding is available than the last few years, but the actual amount has not been determined.”
Along with a distribution survey, other research planned for 2007:
August Calf Count Survey: Beluga calving is thought to be completed by the end of July in Cook Inlet. Every August since 1993, the National marine Mammal Lab has counted calves in August to try to pinpoint the ratio to adults.
Tidal Component of Beluga Habitat: How do belugas react to Cook Inlet’s immense tides? Biologists plan to compare beluga movements to tidal height and direction.
Calf Count from 2003-2007: A lot of video has been shot of beluga calves swimming in the Inlet’s roiling silty waters. Sorting out how many gray youngsters surface on the tapes can take hundreds of hours of tech-time. Biologists hope to finish up this analysis.
If funding frees up, here’s additional research:
Knik Arm Habitat Study: Survey Knik Arm during the ice free months to determine distribution and density of the various fish eaten by the belugas. Where do the fish run? Are there channels, river mouths, shoals or shallows involved? How does this fit with beluga movements?
Age structure 1994-2007 : Examine video and photos of belugas from previous years to estimate the ratio of calves to adults, and juveniles to adults. Belugas are born gray and gradually turn white over four to six years.
Tooth Aging and Mortality Analysis: By analyzing teeth taken from dozens of whale harvested or washed up, scientists can determine age at death and survival rates, and maybe the cause of death.
More Genetic Analysis: Analyze existing samples by location, and analyze archived or museum samples using “ancient DNA” techniques. This will help scientists figure out the differences between Cook Inlet belugas and other Alaska stocks. They can also zero on on the original population size and genetic diversity.
