In Alaska, a Mystery Over Disappearing Whales – Undark

Beluga or white whale, Delphinapterus leucas. courtship (by Brian Gratwicke CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

In the 1980s, Kotzebue Sound’s beluga population began to dwindle…Although some stocks are healthy, beluga numbers have fallen off in around a half-dozen regions over the last 50 years…Now, even after hunting has ceased in some places, stresses such as climate change, increased ship traffic, and chemical pollutants are a gathering storm that threatens to finish the job…