The most recent NOAA Fisheries Service’s population survey reveals a decline in Cook Inlet beluga whale numbers.

Alaska’s small population of critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales is continuing to decline even further, according to the new survey by NOAA scientists.

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From the proposed bill to protect the North American black bear to the resurgence of elephant poaching in Kenya - and the skinning of a tiger inside an Indonesian zoo - the issues are not over yet.

Lions and tigers and bears … and elephants, whales, and rhino: Here are a few updates - as of today - on nine of my wildlife conservation posts. Four zoo posts are included, as zoos are (ideally) intended to be facilities for protecting precious wildlife.

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Subsistence activities, including whaling, are a way of life in the traditional Iñupiat Eskimo village of Kivalina.

Yesterday, the residents of Kivalina had the opportunity to enjoy tradition as they have for generations - sharing the first beluga whale kill of the year.  In this time-honored harvest ritual, Monday’s beluga whale kill allowed each of Kivalina’s 77 families to enjoy five pounds of muktuk and meat.

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Tourists at a Chinese aquarium were witness to a dramatic and highly unusual rescue bid, after a beluga whale rescued a drowning diver by pushing her out of the water.

The diver, called Yan Yung, had been taking part in a breath-holding competition in a 6-metre deep pool when she was struck with painful cramps in her legs at the aquarium at Harbin Polar Land in the country’s north-east Heilongjiang province.

“Maybe I was too nervous, and my legs had sudden cramps,” explained Yung. “I never dive into the water so deep and so cold. I was so nervous then. When I was choking with water and plummeting to the bottom, a sudden force pushed me out of the water.”

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Cook Inletkeeper, a community-based nonprofit, is ensuring the survival of critically endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whales as part of its mission to protect Alaska’s Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains.

Founded in 1994 by a group of Alaskans who met for a workshop on environmental law, science and policy, Cook Inletkeeper combines advocacy, education, and science for a vibrant and healthy Cook Inlet watershed.

Cook Inletkeeper has an impressive list of environmental accomplishments. It is interesting to note that the organization won 3 years of start up funding from oil and gas producers in a 1995 lawsuit:

Alaska Center for the Environment, Greenpeace and Trustees for Alaska - joined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - sued Cook Inlet oil and gas producers (Unocal, Shell-Western & Marathon) for over 4,200 Clean Water Act violations. The oil and gas companies settled the lawsuit rather than face hefty penalties in court, and directed 3 years of start-up funding to Cook Inletkeeper.

Most recently, Cook Inletkeeper was awarded the 2009 River Warrior Award.

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Disclaimer: 60 days have come and gone, but still no sign of the lawsuit. Chances are Palin has decided not to pursue this after all.

For the second time in less than a year, Palin’s administration has sought legal action against an endangered species in favor of the oil industry. This time, the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale is her target.

In August 2008, it was the Polar Bear. Now Palin has the critically endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whale in her sights.

The Cook Inlet Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) is a genetically distinct and geographically isolated population. And that population is only about 375 whales.

But Palin doesn’t believe that qualifies as “endangered.”

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Palin is said to be against the decision because of the effects it may have on oil and gas developments and the expansion of the city’s port. (The area happens to be a mature oil-producing basin.)

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The beluga whales of Alaska’s Cook Inlet are endangered and require additional protection to survive, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Friday. The ruling contradicts Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s administration who has questioned the science showing a decline in the distinctive white species.

It was the second wildlife-themed rebuke Gov. Palin received from Washington this year. The governor had previously asked federal courts to overturn an Interior Department decision declaring polar bears threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

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