Conservation
The Cook inlet Beluga whale is a genetically distinct and geographically isolated stock. The population has fallen to around 400 due to hunting by Alaska Natives, though a recent article in the Anchorage Daily News questioned this conclusion.
Cook Inlet activities include commercial fishing, oil and gas development, municipal discharges, noise from aircraft and ships, shipping traffic, and tourism. However, it is not known what impact these activities had on the beluga whale population.
In 2000, the US National Marine Fisheries Service listed the Cook Inlet beluga whale population as depleted and began development of a conservation plan. On October 22, 2008 the Cook Inlet beluga whale was put onto the endangered species list.
The Coastal Marine Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks's School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences working with the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS), began a three year project in 2003 focusing on the water circulation in Cook Inlet.
Read more about this topic: Cook Inlet
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