Big Oil endangering Alaskan beluga whales

This video says about itself:

Pierce Brosnan: Don’t Let the Belugas Go Silent

http://www.SaveBelugas.org Pierce Brosnan calls for citizen action to stop the Apache Alaska Corporation from deploying seismic airguns in the critical habitat of the last 284 beluga whales of Alaska‘s Cook Inlet.

From Focusing on Wildlife:

Stop Apache Alaska from Launching Airgun Attack on Cook Inlet’s Endangered Beluga Whales

The Beluga Whale, commonly called the White Whale, is a marine mammal living in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic areas of the world. From a conservation perspective, the beluga is considered “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature; however the subpopulation from the Cook Inlet in Alaska is considered critically endangered and is under the protection of the United States’ Endangered Species Act.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which is the federal agency (a division of the Department of Commerce) responsible for the stewardship of the nation’s living marine resources and their habitat, has issued a permit authorizing the Apache Alaska Corporation to “take” 30 beluga whales during the first year of its oil and gas exploration in Cook Inlet, Alaska.

NMFS listed this population as endangered in 2008 and designated over 3,000 square miles of marine habitat in Cook Inlet as critical for the species’ survival in 2011. Now they are allowing “take” of endangered whales for oil exploration? Are you kidding me?

Please join me in sending a letter to Jane Lubchenco, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), urging her to direct NMFS to withdraw Apache’s permit and instead develop and implement a recovery plan as required by the Endangered Species Act to ensure the conservation and recovery of Cook Inlet beluga whales.

You can get more information on this catastrophe at Natural Resources Defense Council’s Save the Whales page.

September 2012. The US Georgia Aquarium is seeking to import 18 wild-caught belugas from the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia. Belugas in this area were subject to intensive hunting until the early 1960s and the population is still recovering: here.

August 2013. Following a public outcry, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have announced that it has denied the Georgia Aquarium’s request for a permit to import 18 beluga whales from Russia for public display in the United States. NOAA Fisheries based the decision on requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA): here.

October 2013. The Georgia Aquarium has filed a complaint in a U.S. District Court in Georgia, asking the court to overturn a denial of their request to import 18 wild-caught beluga whales into the United States for captive display: here.

USA: Feds to reroute S.F. Bay ships to help protect whales: here.

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• Why Can’t The Georgia Aquarium Import Belugas? (huffingtonpost.com)
• Victory! 18 beluga whales saved from captivity (sunsetdaily.wordpress.com)
• Georgia Aquarium Denied Permit to Import Beluga Whales (livescience.com)
• Application to import 18 beluga whales for public display denied (noaanews.noaa.gov)
• A Whale of a Decision: The Obama Administration Turns Down Atlanta Aquarium’s Permit On Whale Importation (jonathanturley.org)
• U.S. Blocks Import Permit for Russian Beluga Whales (news.sciencemag.org)
• Winter Study of Beluga Whales Difficult, Scientists Say (alaskapublic.org)
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• YouTubesday: Mariachi Connecticut Serenades a Beluga Whale (existimatio.wordpress.com)