tagged w/ Cook Inlet beluga whales
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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.Nearly 2 million acres of water off Alaska's largest and busiest city were... more
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I watched a couple of PBS videos last week about orcas and beluga whales that blew my mind and broke my heart. Of course, I'd just heard and met Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society a few days before, so I was particularly engaged and enraged about whale issues. (Although, did you know that orcas are actually dolphins, not whales?)
Whales are under human attack on more than one front and the results are horrifying. Some experts say that as the oceans go, so go humans, and orcas, in particular, are the best indicator of how the oceans are fairing because they are at the top of the underwater food chain.
Whaling: A hugely controversial and internationally banned practice, whaling is allowed by Norway and Iceland, although Japan also partakes using the guise of scientific research as a means to line their pockets and supply the country's taste for whale meat. The problem is – besides the legal and moral questions – there's been a surplus for the past few years so prices have been dropping precipitously. Yet, the slaughters continue. Iceland just kicked off their annual hunt last week.
Navy Sonars: There have been a couple of instances – as documented in the PBS piece on orcas – of Navy sonars wreaking havoc in the oceans. In the Puget Sound, orcas were the only known victims; but in the Bahamas, both dolphins and whales scurried to the beach to escape the sonic assault. Nevertheless, national security trumps all, or so ruled the Supreme Court last November in a case that would have limited offshore exercises when marine mammals were nearby.
Toxins: Did you know that 27% of the beluga whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary off the coast of Quebec have cancer, including breast cancer? That rate is similar to the rate in humans. The belugas in the Cook Inlet (Alaska) have been a separate subpopulation for about 10,000 years. If they die off, they will not be replaced. Yet, as I've previously covered, Governor Sarah Palin doesn't care too much. She'd rather have her oil and gas exploration projects. Orcas from all over are living with 3-400 times the amount of toxins that appear in our systems. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) stay in their systems for 30 to 50 years and contaminate the meat the whalers are so keen on selling. The Pacific Northwest orcas ingest the PCBs through eating salmon, their favorite snack. But wild salmon are also on the wane due to farm-raised salmon polluting the waters with sea lice that the baby wild salmon can't fight off.
There are other man-made hindrances for whales to battle, such as boats that cause propeller accidents and nets or other debris that cause entanglements. I dare say that all of the ocean critters can survive without us, but I don't think we can survive without them. We need to find a better way.
Orcas - http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1099394282
Belugas - http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1094847767I watched a couple of PBS videos last week about orcas and beluga whales that blew my... more
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The state of Alaska has announced its plans to sue the federal government over the decision to list the Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species. The listing, announced last year, affects only Cook Inlet belugas, which are genetically distinct from other belugas.
From a statement posted on Gov. Sarah Palin's website:
"The State of Alaska has worked cooperatively with the federal government to protect and conserve beluga whales in Cook Inlet," said Palin. "This listing decision didn't take those efforts into account as required by law....
"While challenging the listing, we will continue to protect beluga whales," said Palin. "We will also be assisting Alaskan communities and stakeholders with navigating the complex bureaucratic process this listing decision imposes on their projects and working cooperatively with federal agencies on the required consultations, designations of critical habitat and development of a recovery plan and objectives."
But many environmental activists voiced their opposition to Alaska's challenge. Prime among them was Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity, who said, "Gov. Palin seems more than willing to sacrifice endangered whales on the altar of oil company profits." The Anchorage Daily News reports on other notable dissenters:
"It seems the Palin administration only likes one kind of science -- the kind it agrees with," said Craig Matkin, an Alaska marine mammal specialist with the North Gulf Oceanic Society. "Every objective expert who's looked at this small and isolated (beluga) population agrees it should be listed."
Audubon Alaska scientist John Schoen noted that the protective status for local belugas was strongly endorsed by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission empaneled by Congress.
In 1979, University of Alaska biologists estimated that about 1,300 belugas lived in the Cook Inlet. Fewer than 400 remain today.The state of Alaska has announced its plans to sue the federal government over the... more
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The US state of Alaska is planning to launch a legal challenge against new federal regulations to protect threatened beluga whales in Cook Inlet.
The white whales were listed as endangered last year after federal scientists warned they were headed towards extinction.
The listing requires the designation of critical habitat for the animals, as well as the drafting of a recovery plan and a review of activities in Cook Inlet.
However, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin wants the listing removed because of the impact it could have on oil and gas projects, as well as the expansion of Anchorage port.
The Centre for Biological Diversity is accusing Ms Palin of being willing to sacrifice the whales for the sake of the oil industry.The US state of Alaska is planning to launch a legal challenge against new federal... more
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Please Sign Petition! Protect the Habitat of Endangered Beluga Whales NOW!
Target: James Balsiger, NOAA Acting Assistant Administrator
Sponsored by: Ocean River Institute
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/937474107?z00m=17355045
On October 17, NOAA's Fisheries Service determined that the Cook Inlet beluga whales would be listed under the Endangered Species Act. This is a great victory for these irreplaceable creatures!
This success is, however, bittersweet - the whales are still an endangered species, and we need to do everything we can to protect their habitat. With their numbers having fallen steadily since 1979 to only 302 whales today, the beluga is in danger of extinction throughout its range in Alaska!
These whales are in trouble the Cook Inlet beluga population was estimated at 1,293 in 1979. Since then the population has fallen steadily until there were only 302 in 2006, the most recent count.
The low numbers and shrinking population causes Cook Inlet beluga whales to be much more vulnerable to all natural sources of mortality, such as disease, predation and stranding. Limiting their range to portions of Cook Inlet, the belugas are particularly vulnerable to human caused sources of whale weakening and mortality as well. Oil drilling tailings are not regulated. Sewage insufficiently treated; non-point source and storm overflows are untreated. Heavy metals, petro-chemicals and endocrine disruptive chemicals bio-accumulate in the fat tissues of belugas and are magnified when passed from mother to calf.
Such persistent pollutants can affect the fertility and reproductive rate of whales. Meanwhile, ship traffic through Cook Inlet is increasing with Anchorage Port exceeding the projected tonnage growth rate of 2.5 percent per year.
Alaska's marine ecosystems and fisheries are particularly vulnerable to the immediate impacts of global warming temperature variations and carbon-loading of the atmosphere. A third of increased atmospheric carbon goes into the ocean causing acidification of seawater and further challenging marine invertebrates in Cook Inlet, a vital part of the beluga's food pyramid. Taking management steps to avert these problems will not only save belugas, it will benefit Alaska's economy by increasing seafood value and tourism.
Join us in urging NMFS to follow through on their proposal to designate critical habitat for the Cook Inlet beluga whale now that it is an endangered species. Only by addressing troubled waters in Cook Inlet can beluga whales recover and thrive once again.
Please Sign Petition! Protect the Habitat of Endangered Beluga Whales NOW!
Target:... more
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