By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A government study found that a group of endangered beluga whales in Alaska is declining, raising concern that bolstered protection for the animals is not coming quickly enough. The downward trend comes after two years where numbers for the Cook Inlet belugas appeared to have stabilized. But now numbers have slipped again to 321 animals, down from an estimated 375 animals in 2007 and 2008, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Cook Inlet whales, which swim mainly off Anchorage, are considered a genetically distinct population and don’t mix with the other four beluga groups in Alaska. The lower number in 2009 underscores the need for NOAA to act more aggressively to reverse the decline and save the whales from extinction, said Brendan Cummings, oceans program director with the Center for Biological Diversity, a group that has used legal pressure to try and get more protections for Cook Inlet belugas. Cummings said one year after the listing and there is no critical habitat designation and no recovery team or recovery plan in place. But, he said, it is not too late to save Cook Inlet’s belugas if the federal agencies put their best efforts into protecting them and the state removes obstacles to their recovery. “It has to start very soon or each year we will see fewer and fewer belugas until one day we will see no more at all,” he said. …
Study: Endangered AK beluga whale group declining
