ORI Partner: Alaska Center for Environment

ORI Relationship
June 2008 ORI participated in ACE’s Alaska Oceans Festival in Anchorage. In October ORI assisted ACE to save Cook Inlet beluga whales. ORI’s network reached out beyond Alaska. When NOAA-Fisheries Service announced that these whales were endangered under the ESA (Oct 17) ORI had raised more than 12,000 letters of support with 1,615 ocean literate personal comments. We now ask for your comments on why comprehensive planning and inclusive management should be brought to the beluga’s habitat in Cook Inlet.

Overview
Alaska's marine environment is home to an incredible bounty of marine life and a rich history of human cultures. Alaska’s oceans support world-class populations of fish, marine mammals, and birds, and are a major component of Alaska’s subsistence and cash economy. Despite this importance, much is still unknown about our marine environment, and it is vulnerable to pressures from pollution, climate change, and overfishing.

Location: Alaska, where the negative effects of global warming are threatening our very way of life: salmon streams are warming, forests are succumbing to increased infestation and fire, permafrost is melting and snows turn to rain. Alaska is ground zero for global warming.

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