Alaska’s Beluga Whales Up for Protection

A federal agency says beluga whales could be extinct in Alaska’s Cook Inlet in 100 years if they aren’t protected.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is recommending the approximately 300 whales in the Inlet be put on the endangered species list.

The proposal is opposed by business and industry groups who say the designation would hurt the local economy by limiting gas and oil development and commercial fishing, the Anchorage Daily News said Friday.

Alaska lawmakers are challenging the Fisheries Service’s findings.

I don’t think there’s a shortage of beluga whales, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, told the newspaper. There’s just a shortage of beluga whales coming into the Inlet.

Federal studies show the Cook Inlet beluga population fell from 1,300 in 1979 to about 350 by 1998.