Okhotsk Beluga Whale: Independent Scientific Assessment

In March of this year, a small panel chaired by Randall Reeves and including CSG members Barb Taylor and Bob Brownell, was convened by the IUCN Species Survival Commission to provide an independent scientific assessment of recent research on belugas in the Sakhalin–Amur region of eastern Russia. This research, which is ongoing, is sponsored by oceanaria and is intended to, among other things, provide a scientific basis for determining the sustainability of live-capture removals. To view or download the panel’s report, published in May 2011, click here: