Friend,

Endangered beluga whales already face pollution, habitat destruction and harassment from fishing and shipping boats -- but soon they could be in even more danger.

Cook Inlet provides critical habitat to beluga whales off the Alaskan coast, but the Interior Department is planning to open up the inlet to offshore drilling lease sales.1 These belugas are already struggling to survive, and the last thing they need is oil drilling -- and spills -- in the waters they call home.

The Interior Department is holding a public comment period until Dec. 13. Tell the Interior Department to protect beluga whales and cancel the oil and gas lease sales in Cook Inlet.

The belugas of Cook Inlet have been struggling for decades, and their numbers have fallen below sustainable levels.2 Only 279 whales remain in Cook Inlet, and their population continues to drop at an alarming rate.3

Cook Inlet is already a bustling area full of boat traffic, potential pollution, and noise that can cause permanent hearing loss for belugas.4 If oil and gas drilling is allowed in Cook Inlet, belugas won't stand a chance.

Spilled oil can make its way up the food chain and into a beluga's blubber where it stays for long periods, threatening the beluga's immune and reproductive systems.5 Soon, their home could be full of dangerous offshore oil and gas drilling -- and we know when we drill, we spill.

We need to protect these extremely vulnerable whales by stopping oil and gas drilling before it sends them even closer to extinction.

And it isn't just whales that are at risk. Cook Inlet is also home to sea lions, northern sea otters and Chinook salmon -- all of which depend on clean water to survive.

Not only would this lease sale threaten marine life, but it adds fuel to the climate crisis at a time when we desperately need to get off fossil fuels.

We need to transition away from dangerous oil extraction, not sacrifice more of our planet to oil spills and greenhouse gas pollution.

Add your name: Protect Cook Inlet from offshore oil drilling.

Thank you for taking action,

Rex Wilmouth
Senior Program Director

1. Nichola Groom, "U.S. takes step toward oil and gas auction off Alaska coast next year," Reuters, October 22, 2021.
2. "Beluga Whale," NOAA Fisheries, last accessed November 24, 2021.
3. "NOAA Releases New Abundance Estimate for Endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whales," NOAA Fisheries, January 28, 2020.
4. "Beluga Whale," NOAA Fisheries, last accessed November 24, 2021.
5. "Beluga Whale," NOAA Fisheries, last accessed November 24, 2021.