Researchers studied over a decade of photographic records of individual whales and determined that belugas in Alaska's Cook Inlet have relatively low rates of birth and survival, which are both likely contributing to the population’s decline.
The beluga whale population in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, which connects Anchorage to the North Pacific Ocean, is listed as endangered and has declined by over 75% from about 1,300 whales in the late 1970’s to fewer than 300 today.
While GenX was not found in the blood samples of Cape Fear River basin residents, three PFAS unique to the Chemours Fayetteville Works facility were in the blood of almost everyone who participated in the 2020-2021 study.