Photo provided by National Resources Defense Council by photographer Brian J. Skerry
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Close-up-of-a-Beluga-Whale-Posters_i1007496_.htm
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/actionfund_beluga_0507
The magnificent white beluga whales of Alaska's Cook Inlet are headed toward extinction -- unless we act swiftly.
Today, there are some 300 belugas left in these increasingly industrialized waters -- a 77 percent decline from the 1,300 whales that thrived in the 1980's.
Right now, you have a unique chance to help save the survivors. After years of foot-dragging, the National Marine Fisheries Service is finally proposing that the Cook Inlet belugas be protected as an endangered species.
But in the face of industry opposition, that proposal will not become reality without an outpouring of public support. That's why we must generate at least 150,000 pro-beluga comments by August 3 -- the new deadline for public input.
Thanks to online activists like you, we've already generated over 100,000 Citizen Comments in support of the belugas.
Please click now to send your own Official Citizen Comment that says "Yes" to beluga protection:
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/actionfund_beluga_0507
It's truly zero hour for this special population of belugas. With only a few weeks before the public comment period ends in August, we must act immediately to save these 300 surviving whales -- one of the smallest distinct populations of marine mammals left on the planet!
Their situation is so desperate that the World Conservation Union added them to its "Red List" of critically endangered species in April 2006. The next category is "Extinct in the Wild."
Yet industry and business groups -- backed by all three members of Alaska's congressional delegation -- are opposed to the whale's endangered species designation for economic reasons. And the Bush Administration's allies want to build offshore rigs in the beluga's critical habitat.
That's why we're counting on you to make your voice heard on behalf of this struggling population of beluga whales that cannot live anywhere else. Even the slow-to-act National Marine Fisheries Service admits that "no similar beluga habitat exists in Alaska or elsewhere in the United States."
Please seize the moment to save the belugas while there is still time. Send in your Official Citizen Comment now and help give belugas a fighting chance.
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/actionfund_beluga_0507
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President
NRDC Action Fund
http://www.nrdc.org/
MORE ABOUT BELUGAS!
http://seagrant.uaf.edu/marine-ed/mm/fieldguide/beluga.html