On November 21 of this year, a federal judge rejected the state of Alaska’s 2010 lawsuit that tried to strip Endangered Species Act protections for Cook Inlet beluga whales. The judge decided that the best available science supports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s determination that Cook Inlet beluga whales are in danger of extinction. While hunting was initially considered the cause of the significant decline of belugas in the Inlet, the population has continued to decline after hunting ceased in 1999.

The Alaska Center for the Environment, the Center for Biological Diversity, Cook Inletkeeper, Defenders of Wildlife, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the North Gulf Oceanic Society, represented by Trustees for Alaska, intervened in the lawsuit to defend the beluga listing against the state’s attack.

Once numbering 1,300, there are now only 300 to 400 Cook Inlet belugas. This diminished population faces many threats. Cook Inlet, which borders the city of Anchorage, is the most populated and fastest-growing watershed in Alaska, and it is subject to significant offshore oil and gas development in beluga habitat. Additionally, the proposed billion-dollar Knik Arm Bridge will directly affect the belugas, and port expansion and a proposed giant coal mine and coal-export dock would also destroy key beluga habitat.

While there are four other beluga whale populations in Alaska, Cook Inlet belugas are a genetically unique and geographically isolated population of whales that live in Alaska’s Cook Inlet. The whale’s population decline has been so severe that in 2006 the International Union for Conservation of Nature placed the Cook Inlet beluga on its “red list” of endangered species. The U.S. Marine Mammal Commission repeatedly requested that the Fisheries Service list the species under the Endangered Species Act. The whales were finally listed as an endangered species in 2008.

“The Cook Inlet belugas are an iconic species in Alaska and it is now absolutely essential that we protect them and their habitat if the population is to survive,” said Taryn Kiekow, staff attorney with NRDC.

In response to these new estimates, the Center for Biological Diversity issued a press release warning that the earth cannot support this rate of growth. Randy Serraglio, overpopulation campaign coordinator at the Center, said it is “bad news for all the other animals and plants that call it [Earth] home.” He added that there is no way the Earth can support 10 billion people and sustain all of the other species that rely on its resources for survival.

In previous releases of the WPP, slower growth rates were projected because it was believed education, family planning awareness, and birth control would all eventually start to have an impact, but this has not been the case. Developing countries, particularly those listed among the 48 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) continue to have rapidly growing populations.

Serraglio believes the only solution “is a global effort to empower women with the necessary resources, education and freedom to make their own reproductive choices.” But despite the fact that many agree with this approach, governments in developed nations seem to be turning their back on the very organizations that work with women on these issues. Both the US and Canadian governments have recently cut funding to family planning services and organizations. Political pressure must be put on all governments to fund reproductive health programs in an effort to stabilize and slow human population growth, as well as ensure a better future for women and children.

Researchers found that one-third of wild condors are suffering from chronic lead poisoning at levels that cause toxicological effects and sublethal impacts. The amount of lead in free-flying condors, which can scavenge on carcasses tainted with lead ammunition fragments, differs markedly from that in pre-release birds.

The research also demonstrates that lead exposure causes chronic, long-term health effects in condors as well as acute poisonings. Lead-poisoned condors must routinely be removed from the wild and subjected to stressful chelation treatment to save their lives.

The good news is that one study found that since lead ammunition was banned in condor habitat since 2008, lead has been effectively removed from the habitat. As a result, lead poisoning in condors, golden eagles and turkey vultures has been significantly reduced in those areas.

There are safe and available nontoxic alternatives for hunters and anglers that could be used in place of lead. Last November the Center, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and the hunting group Project Gutpile, filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to regulate the use of toxic lead from hunting ammo and fishing gear that frequently poisons and kills eagles, swans, cranes, loons, condors, and other wildlife. Sadly, the EPA denied a formal petition to ban the lead in the ammo and tackle, in spite of nearly 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers showing the ill effects of continuing to use lead.

So there’s a campaign on to end the use of toxic lead ammunition and fishing tackle. So far, 117 organizations in 30 states have joined the call for a federal ban on lead ammunition and fishing tackle to prevent wildlife poisoning and safeguard human health. Hopefully the government will listen to them and enforce a lead ban.

As oil continues to seep into the Gulf of Mexico, aggressive awareness campaigns and protection efforts are vital in order to save what’s left of the delicate balance of life in the ocean.  The devastating effects of the BP oil spill on wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico can be witnessed in an exhibit at the National Mississipi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. According to KTTC, the exhibit was originally planned to display the beauty of the Gulf, but after the April 20 Deep Water Horizon rupture it will now showcase what is perhaps the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.  The aquarium exhibit includes a 40,000 gallon tank laden with dark window stickers resembling the oil that covers aquatic life in the Gulf.  It allows visitors to face the effects of the tragedy.

The reality is that the ecosystems surrounding the Gulf may never be the same, as countless plants and animals have died or been forced from their habitats. Veterinarian news DVM 360 estimates that out of the approximately 1,812 birds that have been collected in the area, only 766 have been found alive.  Similarly, only 128 of the 539 sea turtles collected, and 5 of 52 dolphins, were reported as living.

The New York Times reports that dozens of heavily oiled sea turtles were recently found near a site where workers were burning off oil, raising the possibility that the turtles had been burned.

Good News From the Gulf

Luckily, wildlife rescue and rehabilitation efforts shine a ray of hope over the murky depths of the Gulf.  More than 63 cleaned and rehabilitated brown pelicans were set free at Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, which was picked due to its ideal coastal habitat for the pelicans.

Also, the Center for Biological Diversity has advised that conservation groups, BP and the Coast Guard agreed Friday (in court) that efforts will be taken to rescue sea turtles from the water’s surface before setting fire to oil slicks in the Gulf.  A shrimp boat captain noticed turtles, including the endangered Kemp’s ridleys, were being burned when fire-resistant booms were drawn together to form a “burn box” that was then burned.  Turtles were being caught in the box and killed.  Now qualified scientists and observers will attend every burn to make sure that all turtles are identified and removed before the burning starts.

Thank You and Good Luck to all the people rescuing and rehabilitating animals and cleaning up the oil.  Efforts as rapid and forceful as the leaking oil are needed.

As the website suggests, the Center for Biological Diversity works through science, law, and creative media to secure a future for all species on the brink of extinction.  They tend to focus on species in the United States, with some in Canada, the Far North and further south in the Americas.

The Center’s ringtones offer an international variety.  Their six categories of free, downloadable ringtones include the calls of rare and endangered frogs, mammals, owls, other birds, and some sea mammals.  Among my personal favorites are the Bald Eagle, Gunnison’s Prairie Dog, and the Mexican Gray Wolf.  A few of them, such as the Grizzly Bear and the More Spectacular-Sounding Wildlife selections may startle your fellow bus travelers!

Overall, many of the animals presented have calls that lend themselves well to ringtones.  Most readers are likely to find one that matches their own personality and just how much attention they want to receive every time their phone rings.

If you’re happy with your current ringtone and don’t want to change it, this website is still worth visiting.  A fun afternoon or evening can be spent listening to the different ringtones and learning what the animals sound like.  At the end of your fun, please remember that the Center is a nonprofit organization that needs support, and pay them something for the entertainment.