An off-course beluga whale was spotted splashing around near London, and Brits can’t quite believe it.

Scientists attending a national gathering of Arctic researchers are outlining a widening range of climate change risks for so-called 'sentinel' species, such as ringed seals and beluga whales, which have sustained Inuit for millennia.

Cook Inlet beluga whales are swimming up the Kenai River earlier in the year and in greater numbers than previously estimated, according to new monitoring of the endangered species.

A biennial NOAA survey in 2018 estimated the population of the white whales at 250 to 317.

Climate change has opened region up for more of the year