ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 2008

CRITICAL HABITAT: 3,013 square miles of critical habitat in upper Cook Inlet designated in 2011

RECOVERY PLAN: None

RANGE: Five distinct beluga populations are recognized in Alaska, including the Cook Inlet population, which doesn’t migrate and is separated from the other four by the Alaska Peninsula

THREATS: Industrial development, pollution, sewage discharge, oil and gas development, gillnets, ship traffic, sonar devices, global warming, and underwater seismic blasting

POPULATION TREND: Three hundred to 400 whales likely remain today.