In recent decades there has also been a rise in levels of mercury, a by-product of burning coal, in the tissues of beluga whales, walruses and polar bears, all of which the Inuit eat.
IN A nation where, as Nancy Lord observes, every year 32m Americans "come face to face with marine mammals in zoos, aquariums and marine parks", the white beluga whales of Cook Inlet, Alaska, offer an important touchstone of environmental politics.
A few years later, seeing fewer and fewer whales, Miss Lord set out to discover why she had watched all season without seeing a single beluga.
The inlet hosts beluga whales, which could soon be added to the endangered species list.Meanwhile, Alaskans are contending with soaring energy costs.
Its impact will also be felt by rich importing nations principally America, Britain, France, Germany and Switzerland where sales will stop when current stocks run out.In this section Ups and downs Conserving caviar Reprints Related items Fishing (I): Ups and downsJan 6th 2006Trade in caviar from beluga sturgeon (the most threatened species) has already been halted unilaterally by America.
PABLO PICASSO allegedly exchanged his prints for sevruga, Ian Fleming would buy only osetra, Madonna prefers beluga.
In the Arctic the beluga is hunted as food for humans and dogs.
The system of dams and reservoirs has blocked or severely curtailed access for such anadromous species as the beluga sturgeon (famous for the caviar made from its roe) and whitefish (belorybitsa), which live in the Caspian Sea but spawn in the Volga and other inflowing rivers, and it has fundamentally altered the habitat of the nearly 70 species of fish native to the river.
Sea World in Orlando, Fla.; the Mystic and Shedd aquariums; and facilities in Vancouver, B.C., and New York state were all participating and contributing to the research and husbandry of beluga whales as well as cetaceans and other marine mammals.
As their prey is aquatic, polar bears are excellent swimmers, and they are even known to kill beluga whales.
Easily caught in shallow water, the beluga has been kept in captivity since the 1860s, and its coloration and adaptability have made it popular at oceanariums.
