Green | December 02, 2009 | 2 comments

NOAA proposes waters off Alaska as whale habitat

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMbpdKavYYGDrYQXGQLb2JV1410AD9CAVRGO0

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Nearly 2 million acres of water off Alaska's largest and busiest city were proposed Tuesday as critical habitat for beluga whales, raising concerns that the effort to save the whales will scuttle development.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service proposed that the upper Cook Inlet, the middle inlet and a strip along the lower western shore, as well as Kachemak Bay, be designated as critical habitat for belugas.

"Protecting these endangered whales is one of our top priorities," said Doug Mecum, the service's acting administrator for Alaska.

Public meetings will be held before a final rule is issued next year.

Cook Inlet's beluga whales are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Only 321 of the animals are left, down from an estimated 1,300 in the inlet in the 1980s.

While overharvesting by Alaska Natives was largely responsible for the initial decline, the whales have not recovered despite a decade of nearly no hunting. The population continues to drop by 1.5 percent a year.

The state strongly opposes both the listing and critical habitat designation because of concerns about development.

"Listing more than 3,000 square miles of Cook Inlet as critical habitat would do little to help grow the beluga population, but it would devastate economic opportunities in the region," said Gov. Sean Parnell. The state is reviewing its legal options.
  1. groups:
    Green,   Veganism,   Oceans,   Animal Rights = Veganism,   1 more
  2. tags:
    Alaska,  Beluga Whales,  Cook Inlet beluga whales
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2 comments // NOAA proposes waters off Alaska as whale habitat

  • idealist
    • 0
      idealist  

    • humans are the only species who will go extinct because it wont be profitable to save ourselves.
      sometimes i wish all us humans would die off, so all the other animals in the world will have a chance to keep the world primal. :P
      the way humans are running things this whole planets gonna be a poisonous wasteland in 50 years.

    • 2 years ago
  • Lurkistan
    • 0
      Lurkistan  

    • "Listing more than 3,000 square miles of Cook Inlet as critical habitat would do little to help grow the beluga population, but it would devastate economic opportunities in the region," said Gov. Sean Parnell.

      How would having critical habitat preserved NOT help the beluga population recover? I see he has the same money over everything else mindset that Palin had in her brief stint as gov.

    • 2 years ago
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