Alaska’s Gov. Palin sues to overturn beluga whale protection
Gov. Palin of Alaska announced today that her state will challenge recent federal protection for the Cook Inlet beluga whale. Greennewstoday.org
By Shawn Gaynor
Jan. 14 (GNT) — Gov. Sarah Palin announced today that the state of Alaska intends to challenge the federal government’s decision to list beluga whales in Cook Inlet as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The notice of the state’s intent to sue was sent to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). It asserts that the listing decision should be withdrawn due to failure to adequately consider conservation or protection efforts by Alaska.
“The State of Alaska has worked cooperatively with the federal government to protect and conserve beluga whales in Cook Inlet,” said Governor Palin. “This listing decision didn’t take those efforts into account as required by law.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service listed the Cook Inlet beluga as a threatened species over the objections of Gov. Palin in October of 2008.
“Once again Governor Palin has demonstrated either a complete lack of understanding or lack of concern over the plight of endangered species,” said Brendan Cummings, oceans program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Cook Inlet beluga population received federal endangered species protection in late 2008. Photo courtesy of NOAA.gov
The group warns that the Cook Inlet is the most populated and fastest-growing watershed in Alaska, and is subject to significant proposed offshore oil and gas development in beluga habitat — plans that the federal listing may complicate.
The sounds issuing from the high explosives used in underwater resource exploration has long been known to affect marine mammals, and the noise is carried far distances by the dense ocean waters.
Though marine biologists estimate the worldwide population of beluga whales to be more than 80,000, the NMFS ruling recognizes the Cook Inlet beluga whale as threatened because it is genetically distinct and geographically isolated — one of five such populations in Alaska.
The Cook Inlet’s beluga population has recently seen a dramatic decline. There were an estimated 1,300 Cook Inlet belugas during the 1980s. By 1993, when regular surveys of the Cook Inlet population began,there were an estimated 643 individual whales. Between 1994 and 1998, the abundance of belugas declined again — by about 50 percent — to 347 whales. The 2006 population estimate for Cook Inlet belugas is approximately 300 animals.
Much smaller than many of their whale cousins, beluga whales average only 14 feet in length and weigh about 3,000 pounds. Characterized by their unique creamy white color, belugas have an extensive vocal repertoire and have long been called the “sea canary” by seamen who heard their myriad of sounds.
Alaska ’s legal action against the beluga whale marks the second time in recent months that Governor Palin’s administration has launched legal attacks against endangered species on behalf of the oil industry; in August 2008, Palin filed suit seeking to overturn federal protection for the polar bear.
Source: GreenNewsToday.org
