Following the recent decision by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to declare the Cook Inlet beluga whales as endangered, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has long opposed the idea, called the decision premature.

Although the State of Alaska has had its share of concerns with the above mentioned population of whales, Gov. Palin believes NOAA should have waited a few more years before taking the endangered listing decision, in order to get more population counts and establish whether the cutback in hunting will help the beluga whale population recover.

“Our analysis of NOAA’s data indicates that the population has been growing steadily in the last few years, just as studies have predicted,” Denby Lloyd, Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said in a statement.

Although admitting that a decreasing whale population of marine mammals is of course of serious concern, “we aren’t just sure that an endangered listing, and all the legal requirements it brings with it, is necessary to assure the health of this population at this time.”

The State of Alaska is in perfect agreement with NOAA’s 2000 decision to declare the whales depleted, but the new designation, as endangered, makes things a little more complicated when it comes to one of Gov. Sarah Palin’s greatest interests: offshore drilling.

Gov. Palin has lost her cause against the endangered animals for the second time this year, after she first saw how the polar bears, despite all the delays, are also being enlisted as endangered. The State of Alaska took the polar bear matter to court, and it would be no surprise if they did the same with the whale case.

The Cook Inlet beluga whales are one of the five population of beluga whales in the U.S. waters, and the one in the most critical situation. The numbers have been decreasing, but the decision to enlist them came somewhat as a surprise for many, especially considering how long it took for the polar bears to get enlisted.