Cook Inlet Belugas Are Back for the Season
Keep your eyes peeled — endangered Cook Inlet belugas are back!
The Alaska Beluga Monitoring Program (AKBMP) has opened all of its beluga monitoring sites for the season, including the Kenai and Kasilof River sites, which AWA co-hosts with NOAA Fisheries.
Earlier this month, we visited the Kenai site to catch up with Teresa, our Kenai and Kasilof Beluga Monitoring Coordinator. She and other AKBMP volunteers have been hard at work monitoring these past weeks, helping collect standardized shore-based observational data on Cook Inlet beluga whales.
Standing on a soggy bluff overlooking the mouth of the Kenai River, Teresa looked at the silty water and smiled.
“Just watching them come in is majestic,” she said as the belugas swam by the bluff on April 8. “It reminds you why we’re all here, why they’re important.”
Since 1979, the Cook Inlet beluga whale population has declined by 75 percent. Today, there are only about 331 left, making participation and support of AKBMP vital. Efforts are underway to understand why the species isn’t recovering despite protection under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, including looking into food availability.
Volunteers spend hours during Southcentral Alaska’s ice-free seasons monitoring these known feeding areas, helping gather data on beluga feeding ecology. This data enables AKBMP to identify potential stressors that belugas may be exposed to during key feeding periods like noise and pollution.
“It's extremely important that they be able to get in here and get food,” Teresa said. “They are getting themselves through the wintertime — waiting for spring, waiting for the ice to back off so that they can go into places like the Kenai and actually forage for different types of fish.”
At least 20 belugas were seen swimming among the Kenai’s ice floes on April 15!
The spring monitoring season is open until May 31. Are you interested in volunteering? Head to AKBMP's website to learn more and watch the volunteer orientation recording.
Live in Alaska? Make sure you sign up for our beluga text alert system! We send out free text alerts whenever we know belugas are in the Kenai or Kasilof Rivers. Simply text "BELUGA" to 1-833-541-0408 to receive alerts. Text alerts are made possible by a grant from the Kenai Peninsula Foundation, an Affiliate of The Alaska Community Foundation. Terms and conditions apply; click here for details. You can also watch for belugas from the comfort of your own home anywhere in the world, through our Kenai BelugaCam livestreams on YouTube, in collaboration with Kenai Peninsula College and the City of Kenai.
