Beluga whales swam up the Kuskokwim River to Bethel and scientists want samples of them – Alaska Public Media

In an uncommon occasion, a pair of beluga whales swam about 60 miles up the Kuskokwim River to Bethel. After phrase acquired out, boaters pursued the belugas and took not less than considered one of them. Now, an official is working to gather samples of the animal to higher perceive the place it got here from.

Hearken to this story:

Anne Kosacheff lives alongside the Kuskokwim River in Bethel. Final Thursday, round 6 p.m., she and a good friend had been sitting exterior after they noticed one thing white within the river beneath.

“Initially I assumed they had been swan, as a result of what else is vibrant white and massive throughout the river?,” Kosacheff mentioned.

However no, she realized, they weren’t birds. Nonetheless, they had been too distant to see. Kosacheff went inside for a bit, after which shortly after stepped again out.

“And there was this beluga whale turning round actually at my toes. I imply, 30 toes away, however at my toes,” Kosacheff mentioned. “And I used to be shocked.”

She ran to get her digital camera, after which ran down the hill to the seawall to get nearer.

“It got here up for air actually 10 toes in entrance of me. There have been two of them,” Kosacheff mentioned.

Extra individuals started gathering to look at the whales.

“They swam round in entrance of Bethel possibly half-hour, and there was a crowd of us simply oohing and ahhing and taking footage. And it was actually fairly a tremendous factor,” Kosacheff mentioned.

Jennifer Hooper additionally lives alongside the Kuskokwim River in Bethel. Her good friend informed her concerning the beluga, and she or he walked to the seawall to look at them.

“After an excellent half hour or so, possibly even an hour, it was apparent that some boats had been heading out and had been actively going to be on the lookout for them and pursuing them,” Hooper mentioned.

No less than six boats started searching the whales. Hooper watched them take not less than one of many belugas close to the island throughout from the Bethel riverfront.

Alaska Natives can legally take beluga whales underneath the Marine Mammal Safety Act.

Hooper works because the Pure Useful resource Director for the regional Tribal nonprofit, the Affiliation of Village Council Presidents. The affiliation is a part of the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee, which co-manages beluga shares in Western and Northern Alaska. The committee encourages hunters and scientists to work collectively to gather samples of harvested beluga to higher perceive and handle them.

Hooper is attempting to trace down the hunters so she will accumulate samples. There’s not a lot knowledge on the place the beluga are migrating from that swim alongside the area’s coast.

“We’re attempting to get extra samples from whales which can be harvested from our area to know extra succinctly whether or not they’re whales which can be migrating north or again south,” Hooper mentioned.

This work consists of accumulating a pores and skin pattern to assemble genetic knowledge, salvaging its decrease jaw bone to take a look at its tooth for indicators of ageing, and observing well being indicators like its abdomen contents to see what it was consuming.

Hooper famous that pursuing meals may very well be the explanation why the beluga swam about 60 miles up the river to Bethel. The primary king salmon have begun operating up the river, and extra are anticipated to comply with.

[Sign up for Alaska Public Media’s daily newsletter to get our top stories delivered to your inbox.]