900x900 Beluga"> May 2026

Projects like Beluga Bits allow volunteers to help identify individual whales through underwater photography.

Monitoring programs use high-resolution satellite imagery (like the VHR imagery from 2021) to estimate whale abundance in remote fiords. 900x900 Beluga">

This critically endangered population has seen a nearly 79% decline since 1979. Projects like Beluga Bits allow volunteers to help

Known as "canaries of the sea," belugas use complex sounds for navigation and social bonding. a slight increase from previous counts.

Other Alaskan populations, such as those in Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea , remain stable and healthy.

Recent aerial surveys estimated the Cook Inlet population between 290 and 386 individuals, a slight increase from previous counts.