Whalin' Palin -

[Blue_In_AK]

http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/02/23/sarah_palin_beluga_whales/

http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/

Feb. 23, 2009 | The 180 watery miles from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage known as Cook Inlet are a tough place for a beluga whale to make a living.

In the summer, when glacially fed streams and rivers wash fine sediment into the water, the turbidity makes the water opaque. The relatively small white whales, made famous to children everywhere in the Raffi song "Baby Beluga," use echolocation to find food and navigate their cloudy surroundings. The belugas send out noises until they bounce off something, like sonar in a submarine. They are the most vocal of all whales, and their frequent high-pitched twitters have earned them the affectionate nickname the "sea canary."

Looking for food, the belugas in Cook Inlet venture into perilously shallow areas. "They move in extremely dangerous areas and in some of the biggest tides in the world," says Craig Matkin, a marine mammal biologist for the North Gulf Oceanic Society. "Sometimes they strand and have to get off the sand." The whales can withstand being beached for as long as 12 hours, waiting for the next tide to come in.

But for all the amazing ways that the Cook Inlet belugas cope with their stark environment, there's one imminent threat for which they have no adaptation: Gov. Sarah Palin.

Palin's old-school approach to wildlife management is legendary. Despite her incongruous penchant for sporting a polar bear pin, the governor's antipathy for federal protections for the polar bear has led her administration to sue the federal government over the bear's threatened status. Palin's gruesome policy of supporting aerial hunting of wolves is so infamous that Defenders of Wildlife has launched an entire "Eye on Palin" campaign, starring actress Ashley Judd. The site has prompted the governor to denounce the venerable environmental organization as an "extreme fringe group." Now, new federal protections to protect the belugas of Cook Inlet are Palin's latest target.

<snip> ,,, much more. http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/02/23/sarah_palin_beluga_whales/

Please, all you Defenders of Wildlife people -- well, ALL of you, actually -- keep the pressure on. We love our little belugas, I would hate to see them disappear.

See, also, Palin v. Belugas http://www.themudflats.net/2009/01/15/palin-v-belugas/ (The Mudflats)

[flvegan]

1. Someone call Sea Shepherd.

[Jamastiene]

2. The only way to fight the person I consider to be

the diabolical and diametrically opposite of Steve Irwin, is to call The Steve Irwin. That woman is ruthless and downright sickening when it comes to any kind of animal life. She scares me. :scared:

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

4. Sea Shepherd email.

To provide Sea Shepherd with confidential information:
[e-mail]

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Oops, posted in wrong place

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

3. I'm not really a defender of wildlife,

but I do enjoy disrupting evil plans. I'll send an email or two.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. kick for the day people

[GardeningGal]

7. She is such a sad excuse for a human being.

It's hard to comprehend.