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Cook Inlet Whales Escape Endangered Listing
By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The beluga whale population in Alaska's Cook Inlet, which has dropped by nearly half in the past six years, is not so imperiled that it needs protection under the Endangered Species Act, a federal agency ruled on Thursday.
The National Marine Fisheries Service formally rejected a petition by environmental groups to list the population of small white whales as endangered or threatened.
The number of beluga whales in Cook Inlet, the wide channel linking Anchorage with the Gulf of Alaska, has dropped from 653 in 1994 to 357 last year, according to NMFS' latest count. The inlet has a historic carrying capacity of 1,300 belugas.