Native Harvest and Use of Beluga Whales in Cook Inlet from April throughout November 1996

Native beluga whale hunters of the Cook Inlet area reported results of their 1996 beluga hunts. This is the second year for which such data have been documented by the Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council. Forty-nine beluga whales are known to have been caught (killed and retrieved). The number of struck and lost beluga whales is estimated to be one or two times the number caught. Cook Inlet native beluga hunting methods and use of beluga whales is discussed in this report.