ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Saturday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, officials and beluga whale enthusiasts gathered along the Turnagain Arm to look toward the water, keeping their eyes peeled for belugas. While their population had a small bump last year, the Cook Inlet population of beluga whales is at risk for extinction.
Cook Inlet population numbers fluctuate and NOAA officials said they’ve been considered endangered since 2008. The Belugas Count event is a yearly opportunity for community members to get outside and interact with marine life experts while watching for belugas. Coordinators said the event is a multi-agency effort involving government and non-profit organizations to “bring awareness for the species and the different threats that that face belugas,” said Ann Marie Eich, an assistant regional administrator for NOAA’s Alaska Regional Office Protected Resources Division.
The event spans one day while NOAA leads a year-round beluga monitoring program to collect observational data from anyone who wants to participate. Recent reports from 2022 estimate the Cook Inlet population at 331 whales. NOAA’s next planned population count will be available in early 2026, according to Jill Seymour, a Cook Inlet beluga recovery coordinator with NOAA…