Endangered Whale
Facts About the Newest Endangered Whale
In October of 2008, the Bush administration designated the Beluga Whale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet as an endangered whale. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will oversee the endangered whale, and gather data to see why the whale’s population has declined and what can be done to protect Beluga Whale habitat and increase its numbers in the future.
In the 1970s, there were approximately 1,300 Beluga Whales in Cook Inlet but subsistence hunting was allowed, and the animals have declined in numbers to a total of 375 in 2008. Despite efforts of Alaska governor Palin to keep the Beluga off the endangered whale list, conservation groups have won a battle that actually began back in 1999. The decline is attributed to ship discharges, mining, plus oil and gas activities. On top of that, these activities along with commercial fishing, have led to a decline in the salmon population, which is prime food for the Belugas.
The Beluga Whale is small, averaging fourteen feet long and weighing around 3,000 pounds. These particular Alaskan whales live in an inlet which covers approximately ten square miles. They breed in March and April and have a gestation period of 14.5 months. The Beluga calves are born in May to July of the following year. Females become sexually active when they are around five years old, and they deliver one calf every three years. They live to be in the neighborhood of forty years old. That means that population increases will be slow in coming.
This endangered whale sheds its skin in the summer. They can be observed in shallow water in July rubbing the ocean bottom to aid skin removal. At this time, their new skin will grow one hundred times faster than normal. Belugas can ascend large rivers, such as the Yukon, with no problems arising from being in fresh water. They sometimes travel in groups of two or three but have also been known to move in huge groups of a thousand or more. Some Beluga Whales do migrate as far as fifteen hundred miles.
The Cook Inlet, Alaska Beluga Whales have been harvested by Eskimos in current numbers of 150 to 250 animals each year. Another 140 of these whales were also taken in the Mackenzie River estuary every year. It is estimated that total deaths each year are in the 600 to 700 animal range. The Belugas in the Cook Inlet were used mainly for food. The oil was used for fuel and for cooking.
With the Alaska Beluga Whales now listed as an endangered whale, hunting will not be allowed. It will be some time, however, before announcements will be made about what is needed to repopulate Belugas in this part of Alaska.