350 BELUGA WHALES, THE LAST OF THEIR SPECIES? from NRDC 1SEP10

NRDC is always waging the good fight for the environment, and so for all of us. I hope you will consider a donation to them for this battle. For more information click the header to go to their website, and search this blog for earlier post on the proposed Pebble Mine and the environment devastation it will bring to Alaska and Cook Inlet.
 
We’re fighting in court right now to save the extraordinary beluga whales of Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Only 350 of these whales still survive, so there is no time to lose. Won’t you make a gift to help us win this case and save these singing whales from extinction? Thank you for helping NRDC come to their rescue.

Help NRDC Save the Last of Their Kind! Thanks to you, NRDC helped win historic protection for Alaska’s Cook Inlet beluga whales in 2008. But Sarah Palin’s successor has sued to strip them of those vital safeguards. Now we need your help to defend the last 350 Cook Inlet belugas in federal court -- and to halt the massive Pebble Mine project that could help push them into extinction! They are beautiful. They are musical. And they are the LAST of their kind. They are Alaska’s Cook Inlet beluga whales: a genetically-distinct population of extraordinary marine mammals that have already declined by more than 75 percent -- with only about 350 survivors remaining. NRDC needs your help now to defend these vulnerable belugas against a legal assault begun by former Governor Sarah Palin. Her successor escalated Alaska’s war on belugas by filing a lawsuit that would strip away the whale’s endangered species protection. Please make a special, tax-deductible donation right now that can help us stave off this attack and save the Cook Inlet belugas from extinction. Why are Cook Inlet belugas so endangered? For one thing, the Anchorage Sewage Treatment Plant pumps large volumes of waste into Cook Inlet every day, polluting the water and exposing the belugas to pathogens and toxic chemicals. But an even more disastrous threat may come from the massive Pebble Mine that Mitsubishi, Anglo American and other corporate giants are planning to carve out of the pristine landscape that surrounds the beluga’s favorite waters. If the mine gets built, industrial development in nearby Iniskin Bay -- part of the proposed critical habitat for Cook Inlet beluga whales -- is expected to include a vast marine terminal, roads and a slurry pipeline, further endangering the whales and pushing them that much closer to extinction. That’s why we are fighting in federal court right now to make sure that these belugas remain protected as an endangered species! Please make a contribution today that will help us turn back this senseless assault on the Cook Inlet belugas. Your gift will also help us escalate our worldwide campaign to stop the destructive Pebble Mine! Extinction is forever. It would be unconscionable to let the Cook Inlet beluga whales lose their protection or be wiped out by the Pebble Mine. Please help provide the critical funding we need to wage and win these two fights for beluga survival! And thank you for responding quickly to our urgent request. Sincerely, Peter Lehner Executive Director Natural Resources Defense Council P.S. Beluga whales are sometimes called “sea canaries” because of their mesmerizing songs. For a unique population of these beautiful, musical creatures to lose their protection now, while their population numbers only in the hundreds, could be their death knell. NRDC is going to court to defend beluga whales against the state of Alaska’s lawsuit but we need your help! Please make an emergency online gift to NRDC. Thank you.

NRDC takes pride in our careful stewardship of your contributions. Donations to this campaign will be used to help NRDC go to court to protect beluga whales and other wildlife or for other campaigns that enable NRDC to defend the environment in the most effective way possible.