Katherine

= __Endangered Species Project__ =

__**1. My Endangered Species and its Environment**__ __Organism__: Alaska's Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Cetartiodactyla Family: Monodontidae Genius: Delphinapterus Species: Leucas __Physical Description:__ The average adult size is 3 m in length. Beluga whales are robust and stocky. They sometimes have thick folds of blubber. They are white in color, and have 34 teeth. __Reproduction:__ Beluga whales normally breed in March through May. The females give birth to a single whale. Having twins is rare. __Type of Consumer:__ Carnivore __Population:__ 3 decades ago, the population of Alaska's Cook Inlet Beluga Whales was an estimated 1,300. Last summer, only 284 were counted. __Community:__ A beluga whales community includes its predators (killer whales and polar bear), its (prey, flounder, squid, smelt, octopi, cod, lingcod, mussels, salmon, crabs, shrimp, herring, snails, clams), and other populations od species in its environment (algea, kelp, plankton, sea urchins) __Ecosystem:__ The system of the interaction of the community and their environment. __Abiotic/Biotic Factors:__ Abiotic- how clean the water is, water temperature Biotic- population size of the predators and prey __Refrences:__ "A Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Population Crash?" Alaska's Endangered Beluga Whale Population May Have Plummeted 20 Percent. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. . "BELUGA WHALE." //302 Found//. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. []. "BELUGA WHALES - Birth and Care of Young." SeaWorld/Busch Gardens ANIMALS. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. . "BELUGA WHALES - Physical Characteristics." SeaWorld/Busch Gardens ANIMALS. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. . "BELUGA WHALES - Reproduction." SeaWorld/Busch Gardens ANIMALS. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. []. __**2. Food Web**__ If my endangered species, the beluga whale, was taken out of its ecosystem, the population of snails, herring, mussels, clams, flounder, and lingcod will go up because the beluga whale will not be there to eat it. The population of cod and salmon will go down because the polar bear will have to eat only cod and salmon because the beluga whale is not there. The population of squid and octopi will also go down because the killer whales will only be able to eat them because the beluga whale is not there. Because the population of lingcod and flounder increased, the population of shrimp will go down, for that is what the lingcod and flounder eat. The population of crab will stay about the same for some of its predator’s population increased and some of the predator’s population decreased. The population of herring clams, mussels, and snails went up, and so the population of plankton, kelp, and algae will decrease. If the population of the producers goes down because there are too many animals eating them, the whole ecosystem will fall apart because there is nothing to produce food and energy. All the other species will either have died off of migrated.

__**3. Special Adaptations**__ __References:__ "BELUGA WHALES - Adaptations for an Aquatic Environment." //SeaWorld/Busch Gardens ANIMALS//. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. [].
 * Beluga whales have a thick layer of blubber that insulates them and is also an energy reserve.
 * Their circulatory system adjusts to conserve their body heat and maintain their body temperature.
 * When beluga whales are diving, their blood is sent to the heart, lungs, and brain, where oxygen is needed most.

Some factors that affect the population size beluga whales are hunting- there was a spree of whaling between 1994 and 1998 that almost wiped out the population of Alaska's Cook Inlet Beluga Whales. Also, pollution is contributing to the population crash of the beluga whale. Oil drilling, vessel-traffic pressures from thriving cargo-shipping and commercial fishing activities, sewage and storm water runoff from Alaska's most densely populated region and other industrial factors are hurting the belugas. __References:__ "Court Upholds Endangered Listing for Cook Inlet Beluga Whales." //Environment News Service//. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. []. "Save The Beluga Whales." //Do Something//. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. []. "Beluga Whales on the Verge of Extinction and We Don't Know Why!" //Greendiary : Greendiary//. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. [].
 * __4. Population Size__**

__**PSA**__ "Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Blog Alaska Cook Inlet BelugaÂ Whale." //Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Blog//. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. []. "Beluga Whales of Alaska's Cook Inlet Listed as Endangered." //News Watch//. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. []. "Inuit Culture." Web. 26 Mar. 2012. []. "Cook Inlet Beluga Whale -Facts." //- Defenders of Wildlife//. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. [].