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Belugas struggling in Cook Inlet, St. Lawrence rivers
August 2, 2016Two troubling reports have surfaced regarding beluga whale populations in waters that have become increasingly industrialized and noisy in recent years. In Quebec’s Saguenay River, the major river system draining into the St. Lawrence, recent years have seen a sharp uptick in dead beluga babies and pregnant mothers; in 2015, these sensitive individuals were half of […]
Cook Inlet seismic survey permits challenged in court
May 18, 2012Permits issued by National Marine Fisheries Service to allow seismic surveys in Alaska’s Cook Inlet have been challenged in Federal Court. Cook Inlet is home to a dwindling population of beluga whales (under 300), and the permits allow behavioral harassment of up to 30 belugas per year. In part, the challenge contends that this likely […]
Belugas continue to struggle in face of Cook Inlet development
January 12, 2012NOAA Fisheries has released its latest annual estimate of the beluga population in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, and the numbers are sobering. Their 2011 estimate, 286 animals, is the second-lowest found in the 18 years of surveys, and is 20% lower than last year’s count. However, NOAA officials stress that year-to-year counts are approximate, with differences […]
Oil drilling begins in Cook Inlet, near beluga critical habitat
August 23, 2011A drilling rig is up and running in Cook Inlet, along the southern Alaska coast. The rig, which will remain in the Inlet for 8 or more years, drilling numerous wells during the short summer seasons, expects to complete this first oil and gas well by the end of October, well before ice develops. Local environmental […]
NOAA sets beluga critical habitat, but says it won’t change Alaska’s urbanized Cook Inlet
December 2, 2009NOAA has released its proposed critical habitat for the endangered Cooks Inlet beluga population: it includes the entire upper part of the inlet (which includes Anchorage and Wasilla), and a coastal stretch of the lower part of the inlet as well. This isolated population of belugas experienced a population crash in the 1980’s which is […]
Cook Inlet Beluga Population Still Falling, as Construction Continues
October 8, 2009The carefully-watched population of beluga whales in Alaska’s heavily-used Cook Inlet continued to shrink in the most recent counts, despite efforts to minimize the disruption of a major construction project underway at the Port of Anchorage. This report from a local TV station gives a good quick overview, and this article in the Alaska Journal […]
In-depth soundscape ecology study underway at Alaskan wildlife refuge
September 6, 2011A really fascinating multi-year study is underway at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge which sits on a peninsula along the south side of the Cook Inlet in Alaska (Anchorage and Wasilla are at the innermost tip of Cook Inlet). Tim Mullet, a Ph.D. student at what looks like an amazing program at the Institute of […]
Studies assessing noise impacts of wave, tidal energy systems
June 10, 2011An article in Renewable Energy World this month provides a great overview of ongoing research funded by the DOE that is assessing environmental impacts of “Marine and Hydrokinetic” energy technologies. These new “MHK” systems include anything that generates electricity from the movement of water without dams, including systems that tap waves, tides, currents, or ocean […]
Marine Mammal Commission Report on Population Viability and Budgetary Priorities for Recovery of Engangered Marine Mammals
June 16, 2008The Biological Viability of the Most Endangered Marine Mammals and the Cost-effectiveness of Protection Programs. A Report to Congress from teh Marine Mammal Commission. February 2008. [DOWNLOAD REPORT (pdf)] This 400+ page report is the culmination of a multi-year initiative by the MMC. It includes about 60 pages of summation, followed by several lenghty appendixes, the […]