Beluga whales are among the most intelligent animals on Earth. They're curious, they pass traditions down through the generations, and they communicate with each other using a high-pitched whistle.
But new oil leasing in Cook Inlet threatens them — and the state of Alaska is behind it.
The beluga whales of Alaska's Cook Inlet are among the most imperiled whales on the planet. Fewer than 280 remain.
They rely on their sensitive hearing to survive, but noise from oil and gas activities makes it hard for them to communicate and find food.
Because of a poison pill in the Inflation Reduction Act, a lease sale for oil exploration and development in Cook Inlet is mandated.
But the Biden administration held the lease sale without adequately studying the risks. The Center for Biological Diversity and our allies went to court to stop it, but now Alaska has joined the fight to let Big Oil push these whales closer to the brink.
Noise pollution, vessel traffic, and oil spills that stem from oil drilling put whales and other marine creatures at risk.
The unnecessary destruction of precious ocean habitat from oil and gas drilling has to stop.
We know what happens when oil and gas companies drill: Wildlife suffers, and our coasts get soaked in oil.
More drilling and oil and gas exploration will only worsen the climate emergency and extinction crisis.
The two are inextricably linked. To save imperiled species, we must end Big Oil's pillaging of natural resources at endangered species' expense.
The lives of beluga whales and many other species are hanging in the balance. We can't let Cook Inlet belugas vanish forever on our watch.
Please donate now to the Center's Saving Life on Earth Fund.