Take Action: Trouble Ahead for Endangered Beluga Whales

Sign ORI's Beluga Whale Letter When ORI called on our ecostewards to demand protections for Cook Inlet beluga whale habitat, 7,500 of your responses were received!

Background
On January 14, 2009, Governor Sarah Palin on behalf of the state of Alaska gave notice of intent to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for designating Cook Inlet beluga whales critically “endangered.”  Alaska’s legal action to overturn the recent protections for beluga whales, to halt federal efforts to address and remediate the troubled waters where belugas live has slowed the process down.  

NMFS must now complete another comment period. Please write your comments in defense of beluga whales and join with over 2,000 ORI ecostewards who have already written letters.

In the past, we gathered 26,000 letters, with 2,275 also writing personal comments as to why the Cook Inlet belugas are such an important population of whales to save. 

In Washington, I presented a surfer duck, twin to the duck pictured here, to NOAA's Director Dr. Jane Lubchenco.  She laughed and corrected me when I called it a surf scoter. The only yellow on the real black and white seaduck is on top of the bill, and surf scoters have yet to be seen with surf board. Look for surf, American or black scoters riding swells further offshore than human surfers.

Today, Dr. Lubchenco is at the helm of NOAA, the national government agency that manages oceans and the atmosphere above.  NMFS, responsible for beluga habitat, is part of NOAA. I can assure you that Dr. Lubchenco will be personally interested in your individual comments as to why beluga whales and their habitats are important to you. With your voices NMFS gains knowledge and the public legitimacy needed for responsible ecosystem-based management of the beluga whale's home in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The only hope for survival of this distinct population of whales is management in concert with all levels of government that is inclusive of Cook Inlet ocean waters and adjacent shores.

Please, today, take a moment to write a personal comment on behalf of these magnificent whistling and chirping white whales. 

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