Belugas spotted in Ship Creek

Cook Inlet Beluga Whales are usually seen from a distance, but several people have spotted them over the past few days in a place you might not expect: Ship Creek.

Moua Xiong captured a brief video of mother beluga and its calf, while she walked near Ship Creek on Sunday.

"I mean, I go there every week – three times a week sometimes," said Xiong. "And in the 20 years I've been up here, that was first time I've ever experienced anything like that. So it was pretty amazing, and I feel blessed."

Peter Scully also spotted the whales Sunday evening.

"Coming across the bridge, I noticed a beluga whale right in the middle of the creek," he said. "So I pulled the car slowly over to the side of the road, and got out with my camera."

Scully took several up-close photos of the whale and it's calf, as they slowly swam in the creek.

"It looked like the calf was foraging sort of from side to side," said Scully. "But it would always come back to the mom, and sweep over its back and look up towards the bridge. And so it was really exciting to watch."

Suzanne Steinert, with the Beluga Whale Alliance, says belugas will often swim in creeks, but it's unusual for people to see them that clearly.

"It's also really, really great to see such a healthy looking calf with a mom," Steinert said. "That means that these whales are calving in the wild, and that's hopefully good news."

Steinert cautions people, who might want to see the whales in Ship Creek, to remember that they are protected as an endangered species.

"Any effort that you make, if you try to get into the water to potentially get closer to the whales, could potentially be considered a form of harassment, which is illegal" Steinert said, adding that it's important to view them quietly at close range, since they are highly sensitive to sound.

The

encourages people, who spot the whales, to call the NOAA Marine Fisheries 24-hour hotline to report the sighting at (877) 925-7773.

(Video courtesy Moua Xiong)