Beluga whales in Cook Inlet have been in a long period of decline, about two percent a year. But a new population count points to a reversal. The latest numbers have led researchers to declare the population stable for the first time in decades.

Citizen scientists fill an important gap in helping understand when and how Cook Inlet belugas use the river.

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

Cook Inlet Keeper and the Center for Biological Diversity have sued the Federal Government over issuing permits to Hilcorp .

The number of endangered beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet increased slightly the past four years, according to a new estimate by federal biologists.

The endangered population continues to slip and calf numbers are few, but no single factor has been identified as the cause.