Regulators want 6 more months to decide beluga whale endangered status

Mon, April 21, 2008
Posted in Alaska News, Top Stories

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) says it will take up to 6 months longer to decide whether Cook Inlet beluga whales should be listed as endangered.

Joel Southern, APRN - Washington, DC

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2 Comments to “Regulators want 6 more months to decide beluga whale endangered status”

Eleanor Moore on April 22, 2008 at 9:01 am

I’d like to know what happens to the land or seas and when a species is deemed as endangered. Does the other countries comply with such rulings? Does the area become a sanctuary? Are not sanctuaries desolated by mining companies? Was the drilling companies dispersing by products that cause sterility and deformities into the waters there? were there mining companies dispersing methyl mercury the causes sterility, deformities, suppression of immune systems, and brain development? who is funding your program?
John Proffitt on April 22, 2008 at 12:24 pm

@Eleanor

“I’d like to know what happens to the land or seas and when a species is deemed as endangered.”
* Regulatory agencies take different actions based on a species being placed on the list. It varies by habitat and suspected cause of the species depletion.

“Does the other countries comply with such rulings?”
* Generally, no. Endangered Species designation is a U.S.-specific law/policy. It is not binding on other nations, though other nations may choose to respect the designation unilaterally. However, in this particular case, the beluga whales are entirely within Alaskan waters, so other nations are not directly affected.

“Does the area become a sanctuary?”
* Wildlife sanctuaries are a different matter from listing a species as Endangered. While sanctuaries could be established to protected an at-risk species, that’s not necessarily what follows.

“Are not sanctuaries desolated by mining companies?”
* Um… Well, formal sanctuaries do not allow industrial activities within their borders, hence the name “sanctuary.” However, nearby human activities could indeed have an effect. Desolation? That’s a subjective term and I don’t know of any cases.

“Was the drilling companies dispersing by products that cause sterility and deformities into the waters there? were there mining companies dispersing methyl mercury the causes sterility, deformities, suppression of immune systems, and brain development?”
* Cook Inlet and other beluga populations in Alaskan waters might be affected by any number of industrial activities, including effluent released from mining or oil & gas development. They might also be affected by global warming trends. However, to my knowledge, no one is pointing a finger at any single source of the problem.

“who is funding your program?”
* APRN is funded by a number of mechanisms, most notably fees collected from public radio stations across Alaska as well as underwriting (pseudo-advertising) revenue and a few other minor sources. We are primarily a news and public affairs programming service working on behalf of the Alaskan public.