After careful consideration regarding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA Fisheries and partners have decided to cancel the 2021 Belugas Count! event. Belugas Count! is a citizen science opportunity and festival event usually held in September, when viewing of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales near Anchorage and Kenai is optimal. “Belugas Count! is a […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 176th Wing rescued four occupants from two aircraft crashes Aug. 12 and 14. The Guardsmen rescued two from a PA-18 Super Cub crash in the Ptarmigan Pass area Thursday, and they rescued three from a PA-14 Family Cruiser on the Beluga River on Saturday. […]
Alaska State Troopers were informed of an SOS transmitted on a satellite communications device late Saturday evening originating near Beluga. AST contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, who by then, were already aware of the situation after receiving alerts from an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT). RCC had a National Guard rescue team and a Lifemed […]
NEWPORT, Ore. – Researchers can now determine the age and sex of living beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet thanks to a new DNA-based technique that uses information from small samples of skin tissue. Accurate age estimates are vital to conservation efforts for Cook Inlet belugas, which were listed as endangered following a significant population decline in […]