Anger at Beluga Whale protection in Alaska

The Beluga whale is a small white toothed whale that inhabits the Arctic Ocean and its adjoining seas. It has five population segments in Alaskan waters and is currently listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in the segment that inhabits Cook Inlet, an isolated inlet near Anchorage off the coast of Alaska. On April 8, 2011, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association's Fisheries Service (NOAA) designated 3,016 miles of Cook Inlet as critical Beluga habitat, thus closing the area to any kind of oil or gas development. This has prompted anger in the Alaska State House of Representatives. House Speaker Mike Chenault released a statement on the 8th April 2011, saying that “The federal government ignored state data and biologists, and Alaskans and our kids will have to pay for it. That means fewer jobs, less economic multipliers of that payroll, and less energy security and stability for the entire Railbelt region.”

Click on the following links for more information:

For the NOAA rule, please see here.

For the NOAA press release, please click here.

Click here for further discussion.