EDGE OF EXTINCTION: BELUGA WHALE COOK INLET-STOP THE PEBBLE MINE!
- by: s sureck AnimalActionUSA
- recipient: Please support Endangered species conservation- Defenders of Wildlife
Click here: Mega-star Robert Redford opposed to Alaska mine - CBS News
Click here: Stop the Pebble Mine
Click here: Stop the Pebble Mine!: Thank You: Save BioGems
Click here: Cook Inlet Beluga Whale - Defenders of Wildlife
Click here: http://madmikesamerica.com/2011/05/the-battle-of-cook-inlet-beluga-whales-win/
Click here: Extinction Crisis: Help Save Species Before It's Too Late Petition to Congress.
- Click here: Cook Inlet Beluga Whales Still Declining | Marine Science Today
Cook Inlet Beluga Whale - Delphinapterus leucas - Facts Sound Defenders At Work Take Action
Click here: Pebble Mine in Alaska. Worst. Idea. Ever. | Matt Skoglund's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC
Click here: Stop the Pebble Mine
Adult beluga whales are easily distinguished by their pure white skin, their small size and their lack of dorsal fin. The beluga has a broad and rounded head and a large forehead. Belugas are toothed whales. They have broad, paddle-like flippers and notched tails. The Cook Inlet beluga whale is a small, isolated subspecies of the beluga whale currently facing critical threats.
UPDATE:
Three years after we won endangered species protection for the very last 340 belugas of Cook Inlet, Sarah Palins successor in Alaska has stepped up his states attack on these embattled creatures. He has filed a lawsuit that would strip away the belugas life-saving protection.
NRDC has raced to court and is defending these last belugas from the disastrous plans of corporations and politicians, but we urgently need your support.
Click here: Stop the Pebble Mine
Click here: Contacting the Congress: A Citizen's Congressional Directory
The new port would increase shipping traffic, noise, pollution and other industrial activity -- all to service the monumentally destructive mega-mine.
You and I didnt fight to save these last 340 belugas, only to see them wiped out by the Pebble Mine. Thats why its critical that we stave off the states outrageous attack on their endangered species status.
Though the global population of belugas is around 100,000, the Cook Inlet population consists of just over 300 animals.
Unregulated hunting has been in the main cause of beluga whale decline. Despite stringent hunting controls implemented in 1998, the Cook Inlet beluga whale population has not rebounded as expected.
Because beluga congregate in river estuaries, human caused pollution is proving to be another significant danger to their health. Other threats include strandings, disease, contaminants, shipping vessel traffic, noise (including seismic testing), prey declines, predators (such as the killer whale) and human-induced habitat changes.
Climate changes in the Arctic may alter food web dynamics, and reductions in ice cover could bring more human activities, increasing hunting pressure and the risk of vehicle strikes and other disturbances.
Reasons For HopeDefenders at Work
Defenders of Wildlife members were included in over 180,000 comments from concerned Americans to protect belugas - the most public comments that it has received for any prior proposed action, the National Marine Fisheries Service reported.
In October 2008, Cook Inlet beluga whales were thrown a life line by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), who announced that beluga whales will receive protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Learn more >>
Legal Status/Protection- IUCN Red List: In April, 2006, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, (IUCN) added the Cook Inlet beluga to its Red List, classifying it as critically endangered. The IUCN says that "The beluga whale is unquestionably a conservation-dependent species."
- CITES: Beluga whales are listed in CITES Appendix II.
- In May 2000 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed the Cook Inlet beluga whale as a depleted species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
- Learn more about legal status and protection of beluga whales >>
- Help belugas and other wildlife by adopting a beluga at our Wildlife Adoption Center.
- Take Action for Wildlife at our Wildlife Action Center.
- Live in Alaska? We're looking for volunteers for the Coastal Beluga Survey.
- Imperiled Species: Cook Inlet Beluga Whale
- Cook Inletkeeper Watershed Watch
- National Marine Fisheries Service
- Trustees for Alaska
Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Cook Inlet beluga whales are listed as endangered, which means they in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their range.1
IUCN Red List: Beluga whales are listed as near threatened, meaning it is is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future. Cook Inlet belugas, however, are listed as critically endangered, meaning they are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, and the calculated probability of extinction during the next 10 years is greater than 50%.2
Beluga whales are listed under CITES Appendix II.3
U.S. Marine Mammal Protection ActIn May 2000 NMFS listed the Cook Inlet beluga whale as a depleted species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.4
1 The Endangered Species Act requires the US federal government to identify species threatened with extinction, identify habitat they need to survive, and help protect both. In doing so, the Act works to ensure the basic health of our natural ecosystems and protect the legacy of conservation we leave to our children and grandchildren.
2 The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species%u2122 provides taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information on plants and animals that have been globally evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. The IUCN Species Programme working with the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) has for more than four decades been assessing the conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties, and even selected subpopulations on a global scale in order to highlight taxa threatened with extinction, and therefore promote their conservation.
Jefferson, T.A., Karczmarski, L., Laidre, K., O%u2019Corry-Crowe, G., Reeves, R.R., Rojas-Bracho, L., Secchi, E.R., Slooten, E., Smith, B.D., Wang, J.Y. & Zhou, K. 2008. Delphinapterus leucas. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/>. Downloaded on 05 November 2009.
3 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international treaty with 172 member countries. Appendix I species cannot be traded commercially. Appendix II species can be traded commercially only if it does not harm their survival.
4 The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits, with certain exceptions, the killing or harassment of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens on the high seas. It also prohibits the importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products into the U.S.
%uFFFD Copyright 2011 Defenders of Wildlife
1130 17th Street NW | Washington, DC 20036
1-800-385-9712
Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Cook Inlet beluga whales are listed as endangered, which means they in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their range.1
IUCN Red List: Beluga whales are listed as near threatened, meaning it is is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future. Cook Inlet belugas, however, are listed as critically endangered, meaning they are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild, and the calculated probability of extinction during the next 10 years is greater than 50%.2
Beluga whales are listed under CITES Appendix II.3
U.S. Marine Mammal Protection ActIn May 2000 NMFS listed the Cook Inlet beluga whale as a depleted species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.4
1 The Endangered Species Act requires the US federal government to identify species threatened with extinction, identify habitat they need to survive, and help protect both. In doing so, the Act works to ensure the basic health of our natural ecosystems and protect the legacy of conservation we leave to our children and grandchildren.
2 The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species%u2122 provides taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information on plants and animals that have been globally evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. The IUCN Species Programme working with the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) has for more than four decades been assessing the conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties, and even selected subpopulations on a global scale in order to highlight taxa threatened with extinction, and therefore promote their conservation.
Jefferson, T.A., Karczmarski, L., Laidre, K., O%u2019Corry-Crowe, G., Reeves, R.R., Rojas-Bracho, L., Secchi, E.R., Slooten, E., Smith, B.D., Wang, J.Y. & Zhou, K. 2008. Delphinapterus leucas. In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/>. Downloaded on 05 November 2009.
3 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international treaty with 172 member countries. Appendix I species cannot be traded commercially. Appendix II species can be traded commercially only if it does not harm their survival.
4 The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits, with certain exceptions, the killing or harassment of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens on the high seas. It also prohibits the importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products into the U.S.
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