Beluga count event shows how many love whales

Dozens of people from Alaska and far beyond helped the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration count Cook Inlet beluga whales in Upper Cook Inlet on Sept. 9, some from pullouts on the Seward Highway and others from along the rocky shores above tidal flats. Photo by Margaret Bauman/The Cordova Times

Cook Inlet beluga whales, once numbering as many as 1,300 individuals, have been in dramatic decline, and in an effort to make people more aware of how endangered they are and to promote stewardship, a free community belugas count day was held in Anchorage on Sept. 9.

The joint effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, educators and environmental groups brought out more than 1,200 Alaskans and visitors from around the world to help count belugas at stations set up along Turnagain and Knik arms.

The event then spilled over to the Alaska Zoo, for several hours of presentations on the importance of and dangers faced by belugas, plus family activities and booths manned by environmental groups, and federal and state fisheries agencies.

The three-hour effort that morning resulted in some 260 sightings. Government estimates are that there are some 328 belugas currently living in Cook Inlet, which is still over the 10-year average, said Jon Kurland, assistant regional administrator for NOAA’s Protected Resources Division in Juneau.

“Everyone was so positive,” said Julie Speegle, a spokeswoman for NOAA’s Alaska division, in Juneau. “Everyone was excited. A lot of people know there are whales out there, but don’t take the opportunity to go out and see them.”

Verena Gill, a NOAA wildlife biologist based in Anchorage, led organization for the beluga count to help spread awareness and encourage stewardship of the belugas, who are listed as an endangered species.

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“People love belugas,” she said. “Every single talk (at the zoo) was packed.”

While Beaufort Sea, eastern Chukchi Sea, eastern Bering Sea and Bristol Bay populations are considered healthy and stable or increasing, the Cook Inlet belugas population was classified in October 2008 as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

While still too low in numbers, the Cook Inlet population appears to have stabilized after a decline of nearly 50 percent between 1994 and 1998.

The Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Recovery Plan, which went into effect in December, is online at  https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/pr/cib-recovery-plan

Julie Speegle, a spokeswoman for NOAA Fisheries in Juneau, with Noah Meisenheimer of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, show the skull of a beluga whale during Beluga Count day events at the Alaska Zoo. Photo by Margaret Bauman/The Cordova Times

Given the large turnout for the beluga count and for events following at the Anchorage Zoo, organizers of Beluga Count are already considering making this an annual event.

Meanwhile, on Sept. 13, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that Cook Inlet beluga whale reproduction, survival, foraging and habitat use will be the focus of two new ADF&G-led research projects to identify factors impeding the species recovery from a decline that began 20 years ago. The research will be funded through grants received through the NOAA Endangered Species Act Section 6 Program.

For those who missed the event and still would like to see the whales, the good news is their travels up and down Cook Inlet will continue until October. Check online at https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/cib-brochure0316.pdf  for good viewing locations, plus more information on what to do when spotting a stranded whale.

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