"Living in waters adjacent to Anchorage, Alaska, the beluga whales of Cook Inlet are an isolated and genetically distinct population. Living memory goes back to a time when these whales seemed countless, and in the early 1990s they still numbered more than 1000, but a sharp decline has brought them near extinction." "Beluga Days is a wonderful evocation of the wildnerness of coastal Alaska and Native communities that still eat whale meat and depend on local foods. It is also a foray into the fascinating labyrinth of Alaskan culture, history, and politics, as the complex relationships in this unique state coalesce in a mad theater around the whale crisis. With hunters, regulators, environmentalists, researchers, businesspeople, and whale lovers, Nancy Lord explores the challenges of protecting whales and habitat while respecting the centuries-old tradition of Native subsistence hunting and accommodating the many forces of change."--Jacket.