The last 300 surviving Beluga whales living in Cook Inlet are under duress due to increasing industrialization around nearby Anchorage, Alaska. Last Tuesday a federal judge ruled that a permit issued to Apache Alaska Corporation by the National Marine Fisheries Service allowing seismic surveys in search of oil and gas was based on flawed mathematics. The ruling is not final and the judge has asked for more briefing on associated issues. The court found that the issued permit was arbitrary and capricious because it was based on erroneous mathematical calculations that consistently understated beluga whale "takes" or fatalities. The Fisheries service would have allowed Apache to kill up to 30 whales or 10% of the existing population. The issued permit expired in April pending litigation. There may have been as many a 1300 Cook Inlet belugas, but the number has fallen dramatically during the 1990's reflecting man's increasing encroachment on their habitat. In 2011 the population was estimated at 284. The numbers have not rebounded despite a hunting ban. If Apache is allowed to go ahead, it will use high-powered air guns to send sonic blasts through the water column for days on end. These hypersonic blasts are known to be potentially fatal to marine mammals, as well as disruptive of normal breeding and foraging behavior. The suit was brought by the NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Chickaloon Native Village. A chief of the village said that his people no longer hunt the sacred belugas because there are so few of them. The Cook Inlet population is genetically distinct and the smallest of Alaska's five distinct populations.
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Cook Inlet Belugas Get Temporary Reprieve
The last 300 surviving Beluga whales living in Cook Inlet are under duress due to increasing industrialization around nearby Anchorage, Alaska. Last Tuesday a federal judge ruled that a permit issued to Apache Alaska Corporation by the National Marine Fisheries Service allowing seismic surveys in search of oil and gas was based on flawed mathematics. The ruling is not final and the judge has asked for more briefing on associated issues. The court found that the issued permit was arbitrary and capricious because it was based on erroneous mathematical calculations that consistently understated beluga whale "takes" or fatalities. The Fisheries service would have allowed Apache to kill up to 30 whales or 10% of the existing population. The issued permit expired in April pending litigation. There may have been as many a 1300 Cook Inlet belugas, but the number has fallen dramatically during the 1990's reflecting man's increasing encroachment on their habitat. In 2011 the population was estimated at 284. The numbers have not rebounded despite a hunting ban. If Apache is allowed to go ahead, it will use high-powered air guns to send sonic blasts through the water column for days on end. These hypersonic blasts are known to be potentially fatal to marine mammals, as well as disruptive of normal breeding and foraging behavior. The suit was brought by the NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Chickaloon Native Village. A chief of the village said that his people no longer hunt the sacred belugas because there are so few of them. The Cook Inlet population is genetically distinct and the smallest of Alaska's five distinct populations.