Current Issues For Cook Inlet Belugas

3 Easy Steps to Support Endangered Belugas

Step One:

Copy the letter below into an email and put your name at the bottom.

Step Two:

Due to the overwhelming volume of responses to the beluga and other listing issues, Jim Balsiger is unable to accept comments via email. As this last push on our part is not in conjunction with an established comment period, we have been directed to mail in hard copy letters only.

Luckily, our partners at the Ocean River Institute on the east coast have joined our fight and are committed to rounding up 20,000 beluga comments, compiling them, and mailing them in on our behalf. Please email your beluga appeal letter to  rob@oceanriver.org with the subject heading 'Cook Inlet Beluga Whales.'

Step Three:

Pass this alert on to anyone you know who values belugas in Cook Inlet and wants to see them around for future generations.

Suggested Written Comment Letter

(Subject: Cook Inlet Beluga Whales)

Mr. Balsiger,

As the October 20 extended listing decision deadline for the Cook Inlet beluga approaches, I ask that the National Marine Fisheries Service decide to list the species as endangered.  The Endangered Species Act requires NMFS to decide by October 20 whether to list, and permits no further delay.

Sound science demands a prompt listing decision. Recently, NMFS scientists in Alaska completed their annual summer survey and confirmed that there has been no substantial population increase over the previous 12 months. Just three days after announcing the preliminary survey count number, fifteen belugas stranded themselves on Turnagain Arm in Cook Inlet. While an incoming tide eventually freed the animals, observers report that several appeared to have stopped moving and may not have survived the stress of the event.  The remote nature of most of Cook Inlet make carcass discovery unlikely, yet there have been already been 11 dead belugas found and reported to National Marine Fisheries Service. A mass stranding or other depletion incident could inflict irreparable harm on this struggling population.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter. NMFS science has reaffirmed this summer that the Cook Inlet beluga population is not recovering normally and merits the unique protections that only an endangered listing can provide. The population's continuation is dependent on your swift action.

Respectfully,

Name

Address

City, State