By Marc Donadieu
Glacier City Gazette
Two beluga whales and a calf pursue salmon in Turnagain Arm. Cook Inlet belugas are on the endangered species list, and a recovery plan has recently been issued to help the population recover.
The National Marine Fisheries Service [NMFS] recently released its final draft of the Recovery Plan for Cook Inlet Beluga Whale, an endangered species present in Turnagain Arm.
The recovery plan is a guidance document with the intention of studying belugas and their habitat as well as threats to both. The plan has no legally binding provisions, only suggested courses of action and threats to monitor. The goal is to help Cook Inlet belugas recover to a point where they can be removed from the endangered species list.
According to an aerial survey conducted in 1979, the Cook Inlet belugas reached a peak of 1,293 whales. Since that time, the population has plummeted. A 2014 biannual Abundance Survey estimated 340 belugas, which was an increase from the previous count of 28 whales. While the population gain is positive, it is considered statistically insignificant.
The National Marine Fisheries Service began aerial surveys of Cook Inlet belugas, which led to the following report conclusion; “These surveys documented a decline in [Cook Inlet] beluga abundance from 653 whales in 1994 to 347 whales in 1998, a decline of nearly 50%. This rapid decline was associated with a substantial, unregulated subsistence hunt.”
The subsistence hunt was dramatically reduced in 1999, and ceased altogether a few years later. However, the belugas did not recover as hoped, and their numbers continued to decline. Researchers cannot pinpoint a single, specific cause for the continuing decline, but it is believed to be a combination of factors keeping the belugas from rebounding.
The report says, “In light of the CI belugas’ recent population decline, small overall population size, life history characteristics, and increasing number of potential threats, it is challenging to identify the most immediate needs for the recovery of CI belugas.”
Mandy Migura, a Marine Mammal Biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service said initial work on the plan began in 2009, which led to later collaboration with scientists and regional stakeholders. In an interview, Migura explained how the plan was compiled.
“The Final Recovery plan has been a very collaborative process that has involved about thirty-plus recovery team members over several years that provide us guidance and advice,” Migura said. “They’re the ones that worked out an initial draft document of the recovery plan. In 2013, they turned the plan over to the National Marine Fisheries Service [for review]. My agency worked on making some revisions to it to make it compliant with requirements and updating information.”
Migura indicated that one of the challenges in helping the belugas recover is identifying what is keeping population numbers depressed.
“There is no clear single threat or stressor to the population that we can point at and say ‘This is why the numbers of the Cook Inlet beluga are not growing,’” Migura said. “It’s likely a combination of multiple factors are limiting the recovery potential of this species.”
The NMFS is taking an adaptive approach to recovery to better understand the factors involved and their cumulative effects. The agency wants to improve understanding of the population, the effects of threats upon it and mitigating those hazards. The agency wants to help the beluga population grow, to help its survival and enhance its reproduction.
Despite the negative data and not so promising outlook for the endangered species, Migura sees reasons for optimism in the beluga’s recovery.
“Even though we are seeing a declining trend over the past 10 years or even going back to 1999, that number is still a declining number,” Migura said. “What I can see is the rate of decline is decreasing, so they’re not declining as fast. I’m hoping that we’re getting to the point that the population will soon stabilize and we can start seeing that growth.”
Migura indicated that increasing public awareness of the beluga’s plight is one of many steps needed to try to reverse the species decline.
“The NMFS has started a Species in the Spotlight Initiative in which we have highlighted the eight, most at risk of extinction species under our jurisdiction,” Migura said. “The Cook Inlet beluga whale has been identified as a species in the spotlight. We’re hoping to improve our ability to work with partners, have collaborations and help the public and private sector help to conserve the species.”
The webpage for Species in the Spotlight can be found at http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/stories/2015/05/spotlight_cook_inlet_beluga_whale.html.
A copy of the beluga recovery plan is available at https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/cib_recovery_plan_final.pdf.