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Cook Inlet, AK, was home to more than 1,200 beluga whales in the 1980s, but by 1998, the whale population was less than 350 whales. The decline is attributed to hunting by Alaskan natives, and now hunting efforts are monitored. Other factors are attributed to man. The efforts to track, observe and protect the genetically distinct whales are described.

High levels of toxic chlorine compounds found in Beluga whales has increased the risk of extinction of the marine mammals. Twelve chemicals including DDT, dioxins, PCBs, heptachlor, and chlordane are to be banned globally to protect the marine ecosystems. Some 17 Belugas deaths in 1995 were attributed to the presence of high chlorine chemical concentrations, declared as toxic waste. Humans get most of the toxic doses from food with the biggest initial dose going to breast-fed infants. Greenpeace is working toward enhancing global awareness and action to ban the manufacture of toxic chlorine chemicals.

The beluga whales of Canada's St. Lawrence river have endured a lot over the years, but they're still around, and still controversial Belugas surrounded us again, slipping through the dark-green […]

The endangered beluga has become a rallying point for Canadian conservationists. However, the planned capture of five belugas from their natural Arctic habitat for exhibition at the Biodome of Montreal is a misdirected effort to spare the smaller population in the St. Lawrence River.

NMFS has proposed designating more than 3,000 square miles of waters encompassing Cook Inlet as critical habitat for beluga whales. The move comes after much pressure and legal threats from [...]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said it had banned commercial and personal imports of beluga sturgeon caviar and meat from the Caspian Seas to help conserve an [...]

A report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has called on Greenland to do more to protect polar bears, walruses, narwhal, and beluga whales, referred to collectively as the country's [...]

Caviar buyers expect demand for beluga, the most recognized and expensive caviar species, to shift to other sources if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides to list beluga sturgeon [...]

Toxic waste dumping in the St. Lawrence River caused the dwindling of beluga whales. Studies by Leone Pippard attribute the population decline to cancer. Incidentally, high incidence rates of bladder cancer among humans were also reported in Saguenay, Quebec, a nearby area.