The Bush administration Friday designated a small, isolated population of beluga whales in Alaska's Cook Inlet as endangered, rejecting arguments from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin that the small, white whales were on their way to recovery.
The National Marine Fisheries Service decided to extend federal protections to these whales near Anchorage after their numbers declined nearly 50% in the 1990s. The whales failed to rebound despite a decade-long program to revive the species.
"In spite of protections already in place, Cook Inlet beluga whales are not recovering," said James W. Balsiger, acting director of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
VICTORIA - A cross-border effort is underway to save a young humpback whale entangled in crab lines.
The whale was first spotted off Tofino in May, but took off before rescuers could reach it. The animal was next seen in June near Trial Island, off Victoria, and, this weekend, was off the coast of Washington where Olympia-based Cascadia Research tried but failed to remove the lines which are tied around its left pectoral fin and its mouth.
The whale, which is not swimming with its mother, was last seen heading for the ocean east of Clallam Bay and members of the Canadian and U.S. public are being asked to report any sightings, in hopes of getting a rescue team and specialized equipment into the area.
The water splashes up in all directions as a huge humpback whale hits the water just a few hundred yards off the boat's bow. An amazed crowd jockeys for position as they eagerly await the whale's next appearance. There is tense silence on this small boat run by the Monterey Bay Whale Watch as it idles over one of the largest submarine canyons in the world. Finally, the whale's tail emerges, indicating it is going deeper into the canyon to hunt the schools of anchovies that are in abundant supply this year.
This humpback whale is not alone in its search for food in the Monterey Bay. Nancy Black, a marine biologist working with Monterey Bay Whale Watch, estimates there could be as many as 60 humpbacks feeding in the bay this summer. That's a huge improvement over the fewer than 40 of the whales recorded each year over the past eight years.
