The P-Cubed Corner: A calling to save the White Beluga Whale

In yet another subtopic of discussion, The P-Cubed Corner puts a focus on specific hot-button environmental causes; canvassing subjects such as endangered species, threatened pristine areas, ecosystems in peril, or exposing blatant polluters and eco-saboteurs. Think of it as something out of "Mr. Rogers neighborhood of make believe," where we take the neighborhood choo-choo to go visit His Excellency The King of the neighborhood, but minus the props and cheesy sing alongs (although if I get enough requests, I'm sure that could be arranged too).

This is the latest update on a friend who’s in trouble; the White Beluga whale out of Alaska. The following message is from our colleagues at the NRDC, which stands for the National Resources Defense Council.

Dear Friend,

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 lived in the inlet in the early 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.

http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/beluga_action

But in the face of industry opposition, that proposal will not become reality without an outpouring of public support. That's why we're gearing up to generate 100,000 pro-beluga comments in the next three weeks.

Please click now to send an Official Citizen Comment that says "YES" to beluga protection:

http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/beluga_action

It's truly zero hour for this special population of belugas.

With only three weeks until the public comment period ends on June 19, we must act immediately to save these 300 surviving whales -- one of the smallest 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 threatened species as "critically endangered" 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.

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.nrdcactionfund.org/beluga_action

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
NRDC Action Fund

See if you can help to make it a more "wonderful day in the neighborhood" for this whale!
I will try to stay current with the notices I get from the NRDC, and other watchdogs championing environmental causes. Stay tuned, friends and neighbors, for such alerts at The P-Cubed Corner. S