Beluga

by Jackie Bartz Tuesday, February 02, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Sometime this year, 3,000 square miles of Cook Inlet could become critical habitat for beluga whales. It's a controversial idea. Environmentalists and industry are battling over the outcome, but there's also disagreement over what happened to the belugas in the first place.  "I can't think of Cook Inlet without beluga whales," said Bob Shavelson, the Cook Inlet Keeper. "My kids and I enjoy going and looking at the whales and we want to make sure that they are there for centuries in the future," said Jason Brune, the executive director for the Resource Development Council.

The tide is rising again in the debate over beluga whales, as a National Marine Fisheries Service report showing an increase in the Cook Inlet beluga population from 321 to 340 this year was released Friday. Some, including State Rep. Charisse Millett, say the report proves that belugas shouldn’t be considered for a critical habitat designation later this month. But experts and others say this year’s higher numbers are not the whole story. Cook Inlet’s belugas can affect a lot of the construction taking place at the Port of Anchorage.

Kicking off our countdown of the top ten stories of the year is Jackie Bartz’s look at the threatened and endangered Alaskan species grabbing headlines in 2010. From polar bears to beluga whales, Alaska's animals caused a stir this year. With several legal battles pending and more potential threatened and endangered listings in the coming months the controversy over Alaska's animals won't end with the New Year.

A Girdwood man died when his plane hit power lines and crashed near Homer Friday afternoon, according to Alaska State Troopers. AST spokesperson Beth Ipsen said the plane went down in shallow water on the east side of the Wosnesenski River, between China Poot Bay and Neptune Bay. The 7GCBC Bellanca's pilot, 66-year-old George Vonderheide, is believed to be its only occupant. According to Ipsen, Vonderheide had filed a flight plan and was apparently following a river drainage en route to a lake when he crashed.

Turnagain Arm bore tides have been turning out lots of photographers this year -- just ask John Gomes. Gomes, a photographer for the Alaska Zoo, heard a rumor that a bore tide was expected in Turnagain Arm on Monday night. He jumped in his car loaded with photography gear and parked at Bird Point. When the bore tide arrived, at 6:19 p.m., he shot spectacular video of surfers riding the waves. Mountains can be seen in the background as the water, moving as fast as 10 to 15 mph, heads ashore.

An Anchorage celebration of life for Cheryll Heinze is being held Monday evening, complementing a Mat-Su Valley event in the former state lawmaker's honor slated for Tuesday. Heinze, 65, was killed in a Tuesday plane crash on Homer's Beluga Lake. Five Matanuska Electric Association employees on a fishing trip were on board the Cessna 206 floatplane that crashed, flown by MEA general manager Evan “Joe” Griffith; he and the others were able to escape with non-life-threatening hypothermia.

A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report on a July 10 plane crash on a lake in Homer, which killed former state lawmaker Cheryll Heinze, says the pilot's estimates of wind speeds at the time were lower than those recorded at the local airport. The Cessna 206 floatplane that crashed was carrying five Matanuska Electric Association employees including Heinze, the co-op's director of human resources and public relations, on a fishing trip. MEA general manager Evan “Joe” Griffith, 71, was at the controls when the plane flipped after landing on Beluga Lake.

A large bore tide was forecasted to make waves along Turnagain Arm Tuesday evening, according to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. A bore tide, or tidal bore occurs when rising tide waters funnel into a narrowing inlet from a broad bay. It happens just a few miles down the Seward highway from Anchorage in Turnagain Arm. The Turnagain arm bore wave is the only one that occurs in the far north and the only one bordered by mountains. ...

The head of NOAA, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, is in town. She's one of President Barack Obama's top environmental scientists and has the influence in Washington D.C. to affect major decisions involving Alaska's resources. Lubchenco is covering a lot of ground on this latest visit. Oil companies, fishermen, and conservation groups have all been trying to get a valuable few minutes with her. Part of her focus, Wednesday, was on Cook Inlet -- specifically beluga whales, which NOAA is protecting under a critical habitat designation.

Investigators are now examining the wreckage of a float plane that crashed Tuesday Night as it tried to make a landing on Beluga Lake in Homer.   The single-engine Cessna 206 was carrying 5 people. One of them, former Alaska Lawmaker Cheryll Heinze died as a result of injuries she suffered in the crash.  Witnesses say that at the time the plane was attempting its landing, strong winds were blowing across Beluga Lake. Some of those witnesses described those winds as "crosswinds" -- winds blowing at a right angle to the direction of flight.